The Child's Psyche

In grade school, Fred looked like the ideal American boy: he was a straight "A" student, captained his class soccer team, and was popular with both boys and girls. But at home, Fred was a finicky eater, drank only water and nonfat milk, and always went to his room when family friends called. And he was annoyed by his father's suggestion that they join other fathers and sons in neighborhood games.

Soon after he started junior high, Fred became a real problem. In the mornings he vomited and complained of bellyaches, so he got out of school. When doctors found nothing wrong, he thought of more excuses --a big police dog threatening him on the way to school, bullying by bigger boys, an unfriendly teacher. The dangerous dog turned out to be a galumphing puppy, nobody was bullying Fred, and his teacher was genuinely fond of him. She suggested that Fred's mother take him to Boston's Judge Baker Guidance Center.-

School Phobia. In most ages and in many communities, oldsters would have prescribed a dose of strap oil for Fred and let it go at that. But Boston has become a hub for child psychiatry, and at the center Fred and his mother found sympathetic help. His trouble was common enough: "school phobia," the psychiatrists and social workers called it. But they well knew that while the complaint may be common, the cause is different in each case.

Fred went to the center for an hour each week, and a social worker and psychiatrist also saw his mother and father regularly. It took many sessions before Fred could realize that what he really feared was not school, but separation from his mother. This in turn had to be clarified: it was because he resented the time and attention she had given to an ailing sister. Finally, the psychiatrist worked through the thicker tangle of unconscious, childish illogic, and helped Fred to see his home life in its true light. Fred is now happy at home and again doing well at school.

Three Hats. Such cases are presented daily to the Judge Baker Center. In 36 years it has handled 15,376. This week, the child psychiatry movement in Boston got its biggest boost in years when Harvard announced that its Medical School and the Children's Hospital are combining with the center for an attack on the emotional difficulties and behavior problems of the young, from infancy through adolescence. Patients in the hospital who are found to need psychiatric care will be referred to the center, while center patients with physical problems will be treated at the hospital. The medical school is expanding its courses in child psychiatry.

Tying the combined operation together will be Dr. George E. Gardner, 49, mild-mannered pediatrician-psychiatrist who has been director of the Judge Baker Center for twelve years. Dr. Gardner will now don two extra hats, as Harvard's first clinical professor of psychiatry and psychiatrist in chief at the Children's Hospital.

Basically, the idea is that psychiatric illnesses usually have their roots in childhood; if the psychiatrists can catch 'em young, the nation may be spared many a more stubborn adult case.

Named for the late Harvey Humphrey Baker, first judge of Boston's juvenile court. Its main sources of income: the United Community Fund and interest on its endowment. It collects negligible, nominal fees.

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