Fathers’ engagement in their children’s psychotherapy within CAMHS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do fathers’ experience their children’s psychotherapy treatment in a London Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS): a mixed methods study
IRAS ID
359572
Sponsor organisation
Noclor on behalf of Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Not applicable, Not applicable
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
This mixed-methods study investigates how fathers engage with and experience their children’s psychotherapy within a London-based community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). It explores the factors shaping paternal engagement and how fathers’ presence or absence influences therapeutic processes and outcomes. Using a psychoanalytic lens, it considers how internal representations of fatherhood and masculinity interact with cultural expectations and service practices, and how these dynamics are reflected in the child’s treatment journey. The study includes father figures of children aged 0 to 18 years in a child psychotherapy caseload. The service is situated in an ethnically diverse and dynamic London borough (59.5% White and 40.5% from minority ethnic groups, including large Asian (18.1%) and Black (9.0%) communities), with a younger than national average profile and the majority of residents born outside the UK (according to the 2021 census).
Contemporary social policy further underscores the importance of this research, highlighting concerns about “father absence” and evolving constructions of masculinity and caregiving. Understanding fathers’ engagement in psychotherapy is therefore both clinically and socially important (Centre for Social Justice, 2025; Davies quoted in Topping et al., 2025; Hillman & Brooks, 2025; Youngs, 2025; Vagni, 2021).REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SC/0053
Date of REC Opinion
3 Mar 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion