ABOUT ME

About me

Elizabeth Edginton
BA (Hons.), PGDip, MLitt, MSc,
PhD, PGCE, PGCE (HE)

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist


My qualifications

It’s important that you find a therapist with whom you feel comfortable. Qualifications are also key, however, so for your reassurance, here are mine:

  • I’m a fully qualified Senior Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with over 10 years’ NHS experience. And a fully registered member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists.
     
  • I completed both my pre-clinical (2-year) and clinical (4-year) post-graduate training as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Birmingham Trust for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and qualified in 2010. 

  • I have previously worked in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, and Yorkshire.

  • I completed specialist additional training for brief work with babies, toddlers, and pre-school children and their parents - called the Tavistock Under 5s Training - in 2011 and have experience of working with under 5s in a Sure Start Children’s Centre, as well as in the NHS.
 
  • In addition to private practice with 0-25-year olds, I currently work with young adults in a University Counselling Service. 

  • I have taught for five years on post-graduate degree courses at the renowned Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families in London.

  • I have led National Institute of Health Research funded research on children aged 5-11 with treatment resistant behaviour problems for the Department of Health and have an MSc in Applied Health Research.

  • Prior to training as a Child Psychotherapist, I was a university lecturer working in Departments of English Language, English Literature, and Cultural Studies, so I have a range of academic qualifications (BA Hons., MLitt and PhD) in this field. I’m also a qualified teacher and university teacher (PGCE, PGCE HE).  

About my Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy qualifications

  • Qualifying as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist takes a minimum of six years’ post-graduate training at an NHS recognised training school. 


  • The 2-year, part-time pre-clinical phase involves successfully completing a post-graduate diploma in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies, while the 4-year, full-time clinical phase – entry to which is highly competitive - involves a further 4 years of post-graduate study and a 4-year placement in the NHS.


  • Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists also have to undergo their own intensive psychoanalysis with a qualified and experienced Adult Psychotherapist or Psychoanalyst, 3-5 times a week, for a minimum of four years, with many continuing their analysis for much longer. 

  • Qualification as a Child Psychotherapist leads to membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists, the accrediting professional body for Child Psychotherapists in the NHS, which is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority. 


  • Child Psychotherapy training also qualifies a therapist to work with children and young people aged 0-25 and their parents and is recognised by the Department of Health as having Clinical Doctoral equivalence. 



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