The quality of collaborative links between the NHS and Social Services in the field of child mental health is dependent on the culture of co-operation set at the highest level of government. There needs to be an understanding of the different theoretical models that underpin working practices. The importance of personality factors, power struggles and misperceptions is highlighted. Constructive suggestions are made on how to ensure that collaboration works effectively.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in methods of eliciting children's views on factors influencing their lives. When children's views are sought it is important that this is done in a developmentally appropriate manner with instruments whose psychometric properties are known. The present review describes a variety of methods that have been used to evaluate children's satisfaction with services in education, paediatrics and mental health. The majority of the studies used self-completion questionnaires and provided only limited information on reliability. Means of establishing reliability and validity in research with children are discussed, as are the variables that have been found to correlate with child satisfaction.

The use of a standardised protocol for the pharmacological (using Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors–SSRIs) and psychological treatment of 10 consecutive adolescent patients with Obsessional Compulsive Disorder is reported. The psychological treatment consisted of exposure to the feared stimulus and cognitive behavioural treatment of anxiety associated with this procedure. The results suggest that there are benefits from both pharmacological and psychological treatments. However, both treatments were difficult to implement. For the SSRIs, some patients reported disinhibition of mood swings and behaviour. For those patients who showed benefits from the pharmacological treatments, there appeared to be a decrease in willingness to attempt psychological methods. The psychological methods require considerable time, which may not be available in clinics, and substantial effort by the patients.

This paper describes, in a humourous way, some of the frustrations, joys, pleasures and pains of a European psychologist working in a hospital in the People's Republic of China. It tells tales of families from distant fields in the remote hinterland and from the more urban communities and shows how these compare and contrast with similar situations in the U.K. Parents love their children whether in Guangzhou or Glasgow and this paper illustrates these cross-cultural connections.

It is only relatively recently that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been recognised in children. Controlled treatment outcome studies of childhood PTSD are scarce, but those that exist indicate that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is an effective intervention. In this article, we briefly describe PTSD in children and outline some behavioural and cognitive models of the disorder. Derived from these models, prolonged therapeutic exposure and cognitive restructuring as part of a CBT package are then described. In practice, effective therapy will include more than exposure-based work, and additional procedures, including work with parents, are highlighted. While CBT is the treatment of choice of PTSD in childhood, there is an urgent need for further treatment outcome studies.

For a relatively new organisation (it was founded only 10 years ago), Young Minds has already made a major impact on the CAMHS field. Its magazine contains lively articles by writers such as Susie Orbach and Adam Phillips and is widely read. It runs a well-used information service for parents concerned about the mental health of their children, and a consultancy service for professionals. High profile personalities such as Spike Milligan, John Bird, John Fortune and Nick Hornby have given their services to its fund-raising events. Who can take the major credit for the success of Young Minds? Stand up, Peter Wilson, the subject of this profile. He was initially Chair of the organisation and has been Director since April 1992.