This overview sets therapeutic work with children in context. It begins with a rationale for why this work is necessary and describes and explores the needs and rights of children and young people. Resilience as a factor in mitigating the effects of distress is discussed and an overview of the history of therapeutic work is offered. Different theoretical approaches to therapeutic work with children and young people are outlined. The various settings in which therapeutic work is offered to children are described and the question of whether therapy works is addressed. The paper concludes with an overview of the papers that make up this symposium.