The Beginning of Emotional Issues...

One of the painful things about being a psychotherapist is sometimes seeing problems as they are developing in children, and being unable to change the circumstances that foster these problems.  In the past I did many psychological evaluations of children, and would sometimes see them periodically over the course of years.  There is certainly much mistreatment of children that never reaches the attention of the authorities, but evaluating these children, who were in foster care year after year, taught me a lot about our system and about the human condition.  I remembered again some of these children as I wrote my book, and was thinking recently about how many of the issues I often see now in my adult clients, like obsessive-compulsive disorder, were born during childhoods not so different from those of the children I used to see.  I'd like to tell you about "Elena," one of the children I evaluated, to illustrate how our experiences as children mold and shape our personalities.

Elena was four years old when I first saw her.  She was physically and sexually abused by one of her mother’s boyfriends, and her mother said she did not believe her.  When Elena began to act out with others, the authorities became involved.  Her mother belittled her often, and did it in front of others.  The current boyfriend cursed at her, called her names, and would go into alcoholic rages that were unpredictable.  He had been physically abusive, but when he began to sexually abuse her Elena became even more frightened all the time.  She remained at home for several years while services were provided to the mother and the boyfriend moved out, but there were other boyfriends and she was often left alone in the house, without food or support of any kind.  Elena had therapy, but the result was minimal as her mother was uncooperative.  When Elena would cry or tell her mother she was afraid of the dark and afraid to be in her room, her mother would laugh and make fun of her.

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