Mutual collaboration between child psychiatry and pediatrics: resistances and facilitation

The relationship between child psychiatry and pediatrics has been explored for several decades. The foci of this paper are methods of facilitating mutual collaboration and ways of preventing, or at least reducing, common resistances to mutual collaboration between the two disciplines. Unconscious motivations for choosing a career in pediatrics or psychiatry and basic differences in approach to a problem are discussed. A clinical vignette is presented as an example of a good collaborative effort. Basic steps for developing a Pediatric Consultation/Liaison Service are described. The positive aspects and rewards of achieving good mutual collaboration between pediatrics and child psychiatry are presented.