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Child Guidance Clinic
1961 saw the appointment of Dr. Nina Meyer, as Consultant
Psychiatrist and Miss C. Tibbetts, as Play Therapist, to the Tottenham
Child Guidance Clinic, which has enabled more children to be seen
for diagnostic purposes and to be taken on for psychotherapy. In his
report, Dr. William Craike, the Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, focuses
his attention on the so-called school phobias where, he points out,
the anxiety is centred round the home relationship rather than the
school itself. The early referral of these cases to the clinic is of
cardinal importance, for it is often too late to do anything by the
time the child has reached the age of fourteen. Nevertheless, in
these older children, Dr. Craike feels that a forced separation from
the mother, through the intervention of the Juvenile Court, and a
period in a Remand Home, might be helpful for some of them, as
long as psychotherapy is immediately available when they return home.
During the year under review Dr. A. K. Graf took up his
appointment as Consultant Child Psychiatrist and Medical Director of
the Hornsey Child Guidance Clinic. Here, the approach to the
problems of the maladjusted child is based on the team work of
psychiatrist, educational psychologist, psychiatric social worker and
psychotherapist; and the opinions of all the members of the team are
pooled at weekly case conferences, before any action or treatment is
undertaken.
A useful innovation has been the introduction of an evening
session which has enabled the consultant psychiatrist to meet working
parents, and adolescents who do not want to miss time from school
or employment. Particularly encouraging has been the attendance of
the father at these interviews, hitherto the somewhat neglected partner
in the investigation of a child's difficulties; and, in many cases,
Dr. Graf has found that he can make a valuable and crucial contribution
towards the treatment.
Speech Therapy
Throughout 1961 children continued to be referred for speech
therapy from a wide variety of sources. From teachers, health
visitors, school medical officers and specialists came a steady stream
of cases; the mothers, too, whose older children had had speech
therapy in the past, brought younger siblings for similar help, or
were sometimes instrumental in sending new cases.
Visits from doctors studying for Diplomas in Child or Public
Health, and students training for teaching or health visiting have been
welcomed by Miss Joan Came, the senior speech therapist, as leading
to the recognition that speech disorders affect the total personality.
Thus, treatment, which can restore adequacy of speech and language
for communication and expression, enables the patient to function at
greatly improved social, emotional and educational levels.
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