| Abstract: | In this paper some of the fantasies that arise around the role of the counsellor in schools and how these fantasies, being a measure of the psychic health of the school, impact upon both the referral procedure and the counselling process, are discussed. Illustrated by case studies, ways in which teacher and counsellor are able to combine therapeutic and educational skills to challenge these fantasies and so more efficiently tackle emotionally based learning difficulties are considered. The title refers to the case of a 7 year old boy whose failure to make academic progress could be understood as an emotional refusal to take on further responsibilities of a premature adulthood. |
