After World War II in the Netherlands, outpatient mental health care for children expanded greatly. The number of Child Guidance Clinics grew, and university child-psychiatric clinics and Youth Psychiatric Services were newly established. The leading diagnostic and treatment ideology was mainly Freudian and focused on psychotherapy. During the 1960s the Child Guidance Clinics were outstripped by the more innovative university clinics that introduced new kinds of treatment, such as play- and group-therapy. This ended the hegemony of psychiatrists, as child psychologists and psychiatric social workers replaced them as therapists. At the same time, psychologists of the two denominational university Paedological Institutes took the lead in the scientific study of children’s more serious psychopathology and the development of play-therapy and remedial teaching methods.

荷兰二战后，针对儿童的门诊精神卫生保健大幅扩展。儿童指导诊所的数量有所增加，并新设立了大学儿童精神病诊所和青少年精神病服务中心。主导的诊断和治疗思想主要是弗洛伊德学派，侧重于心理治疗。在 20 世纪 60 年代，儿童指导诊所被更具创新性的大学诊所所超越，这些诊所引入了新的治疗方法，例如游戏治疗和团体治疗。这结束了精神科医生的霸权，儿童心理学家和精神科社会工作者取代了他们成为治疗师。与此同时，两所教派大学儿童研究所的心理学家带头对儿童更严重的精神病理学进行科学研究，并开发游戏疗法和补救教学方法。