The practice of child psychiatry depends upon clinical skills; the first requirement, then, of a training programme is that at the end of a given period the trainee should be really expert and rightly confident in his practical skills as a diagnostician and therapist. A total of four years, combining registrar and senior registrar experience, might be an appropriate period and would allow a full training, whereas at present some new consultants have spent only two and a half years in the specialty as senior registrars.