CHILD GUIDANCE

CLINIC

INTRODUCTION

The first child guidance clinic was started in Chicago in 1909. Originally intended to deal with problems of juvenile delinquency. Child guidance clinics deal with all children or adolescents who for

one reason or other, are not fully adjusted to their environment.

The object of child guidance is to prevent children from the

possibility of becoming neurotics and psychotics in later life.

In India:
The first child guidance clinic was started in India 1939 at the Tata institute Mumbai. The child guidance clinic was started in 1955, simultaneously with Madras. Definition: Stevenson and smith defined child guidance as 1.attempts to marshal the resources of the community on behalf of children, who are in distress because of unsatisfied inner needs or are seriously at outs with there environment children difficulties which revile themselves in unhealthy traits unacceptable behavior, or inability to cope with social and scholastic exploitations.

2. A child guidance clinic is one of the medico-social amenities

and may be best defined as a center for the organized and scientific study and treatment of maladjustment in children.

Whenever a child is referred to the Clinic, he usually always comes with other associated problems also. There are three cardinal differentiating points between adult and child psychiatry .
1. The enormous influence of environment (particularly the immediate environment). 2. Plasticity on the childs mind. 3. The egoistic tendencies.

PRINCIPLES OF CHILD GUIDANCE TREATMENT:

The treatment of the child is carried out not by one person but

by a team of workers.
Child guidance is a team work job the Team comprising of a

psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, educational psychologist, psychiatric social workers, Public health nurses, pediatrician, speech therapist, occupational therapist and a neurologist . The child is treated as a whole and the personality has many aspects, viz., physical, intellectual, educational, emotional, social and economic, etc each of these aspects is studied by the respective staff member who has specialized in that particular field.

TREATMENT
The treatment can be divided broadly as: 1) Treatment of the child himself. A) Treatment of any physical illness if it is present. B) Psychotherapy which includes. (a) Suggestion and Persuasion. (b) Hypnosis (c) Re-education (d) Psychoanalysis C)Play therapy and other forms of expressive therapies

D. Change of environment as treatment : (a) Foster home placement. (b) Institutional placement. (c) Schools part in changing the childs behavior. 2) Family attitudes as a focus of treatment. A). Attitude therapy to the parents. B). Treatment of psychoneurosis.

services:
The pediatrician takes care of the physical health of the

child. The core of therapy is psychotherapy in order to restore positive feelings of security in the child. To achieve this many methods are employed E g:- Play Therapy, counseling suggestions, change in physical environment, easing of parental tension, reconstruction of parental attitude etc. The child guidance clinics operate on the premise that if sound foundations of mental health are laid in childhood and adolescence, the same will continue into adulthood.

Social worker role:

can help prevent by identifying risk cases in the

community. Educating the public Not only encouraging but also undertaking research studies . Help establish good child parent bond as well as good teacher parent child bond by guiding them.