Introduction
In my experience, physicians in general practice and in specialties other than psychiatry are often poorly informed about and possess very little understanding of the activities and services of child guidance clinics. Surprisingly, this is also often true of psychiatrists trained only in adult psychiatry. This lack of understanding of the philosophy and rationale underlying such services all too often leads to unnecessary friction between clinics and private practitioners. While "educating" physicians regarding the services of child guidance clinics is not the complete answer to this problem, it does much to dissipate their misunderstandings and misconceptions.This paper represents an attempt to discuss in a general way the commoner treatment procedures and patterns used in child guidance clinics. While there is considerable variation in specific details among clinics, it is possible to identify certain patterns and procedures which are generally accepted. The variations referred to are dependent upon such