The timid, dependent child

Abstract

Summary Illustrative case material which demonstrates the development andtreatment of timid, dependent children has been presented. The problem of timidity may be viewed as a potential way of life, a design for living, which is in keeping with the personal needs of the child, who has been overwhelmed and thwarted in his attempts to live his own life. The child is not only re-acting to a difficult life situation, but also actively contributing to it in a manner which leads to an increasing need for self-deception and a diminishing sense of self-esteem. The dynamic concept which has been presented includes a considerationof the individual in action, his specific experience, and the particular cultural milieu in which he finds himself. The traditional concepts of heredity, habit, and conditioning have been found to be an over-simplification of the actual facts of life. In contrast to an a priori list of abstract motives which have been ascribed to children in general, or the universal need for a mechanically conceived release of instinctual tensions, the method of the play-interview presents a humanistic and plastic point of view. It is concerned primarily with the timid child as an individual who has a particular need for self-realization and who possesses that faculty which especially distinguishes human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom, the unique talent for observing himself in action and then doing something about his previous patterns of behavior. It is this capacity for self-scrutiny which is utilized and organized for the purpose of a co-operative, clarifying, therapeutic experience. The entire procedure is immediately oriented toward that which wentwrong in the actual life situation. The parent is included as a collaborator, and the child is encouraged to look at what he is doing and to express himself as an euual, who has something of importance to contribute. The result is the prompt disappearance of the need for self-deception and the substitution of the pride of being oneself. The emphasis is placed on the child's doing something about his timid behavior rather than just talking about it. The goal is not to “make over,” but to restore what was there originally, and to assist the child in every practical way in keeping with his concrete needs. Finally, the method of the play-interview helps the timid child to substitutefor an ineffectual, fearful, dependent way of life, which he soon finds to be of no value to him, an effectual, spontaneous independent way of doing things. It is this resulting alteration in the person in action or personality which makes it possible for the child to continue to enjoy his newly won freedom of self-expression in thought, feedling, and action.