Child & Adolescent Development

Child and Adolescent Development

An Institute Cornerstone

The Institute has a firm commitment to healthy child development, by offering education and training to mental health professionals, early childhood educators and others who work with children. Through the Schiele Clinic Practicum Program, children are treated not only in the Clinic itself , but also in St. Louis KIPP schools and the Casa de Salud mental health collaborative — taking treatment to traditionally underserved populations within the area.

“Child development entails the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. It is a continuous process with a predictable sequence, yet having a unique course for every child. It does not progress at the same rate and each stage is affected by the preceding developmental experiences.”

Resources: Learn more…

Fourth Annual Child Development Conference

Gender + Sex + Kids Today = Confusion
Helping Children Navigate Gender and Sexual Development

with Donald Spivak, MD
This program is designed to offer clear, coherent, and current information on the development of sexual and gender identity which will enable these adults to support development of the child and support their sense of self-worth. Because these are topics that are accompanied by uncomfortable feelings, participants will be able to use the information presented to help alleviate their own anxieties along with enhancing their abilities to understand children and youth. Click for all the details HERE.

Understanding Symbolism in Child’s Play

A continuing education course with Rev. Linda A. Horrell, MDiv, MSW

Begins February 25.

Aimed at early career therapists, counselors, social workers, early childhood educators, and others who work with children, this class will explore ways to understand and interpret the symbolic content of children’s play. You’ll examine your own child-focused environment and discuss what is play as a non-verbal and verbal act; examine vignettes of child observations that are in different stages of development and open the questions of what is the child saying and not saying. You’ll also explore how to interact and interpret what the child might be doing with his or her play. All the details of the course and registration information HERE.

Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis – Analytic Training Program/Analytic Theory Open Classes

The psychoanalytic treatment of children and adolescents utilizes the same general and clinical theory as that of adults. When normal development is impaired or distorted by conflict, trauma or developmental impasse, the aim of treatment is the resolution of such impediments, as well as the increased awareness in the child of the meaning of the unconscious processes. As a result of psychoanalytic treatment the child’s strength increases, psychological structures are altered, adaptive capacities are restored and normal development resumes.

The child analytic technique can be adapted to the different developmental stages of the child and the adolescent. Unlike the analysis of adults the therapeutic alliance in child analysis is established with both the child and the parents. The child analyst helps to integrate the child’s play and verbalization in order to understand the child’s perception and experience of his or her internal and external world. The child analyst also learns to understand how the child experiences the analyst as well as to appreciate the parent’s experiences and motivations with their child. Details on the Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis Analytic Training Program HERE.

Open Classes – Developmental Viewpoint

Each year, the Institute opens several classes in the training program to non-candidates, including the course Development Viewpoint. Developmental Viewpoint is a two-semester study of psychosexual development beginning in infancy and ending in adolescence. It is part of the core curriculum, offered as an Open Class only with the full year commitment. The writings of Freud, Klein, Bion, Winnicott, Stern and others will be presented. Details on Developmental Viewpoint as an Open Analytic Theory Course HERE.

Herbert S. Schiele Clinic Internship/Practicum Programs

The Clinic offers a twelve-month practicum for graduate or post-graduate level students who are enrolled in or have completed clinical programs for masters and doctoral degrees in social work, psychology or counseling. It is an intensive learning experience in the theory and practice of individual and couples psychodynamic psychotherapy with adolescents and adults. The length and frequency of treatment are determined by the clinical needs of the patient. Patient fees are set on a sliding scale based on the patient’s economic and social circumstances. Patients treated in the clinic present with a wide range of diagnoses. The practicum is 12 month commitment with the option to apply for a second year. Through a collaboration with KIPP St. Louis Public Schools, we are also seeking students interested in child therapy, school-based counseling and/or providing therapeutic services to children. For all the details on the Practicum Program, click HERE.

Institute Podcasts and YouTube Videos

Attachment at the Extremes

Lecture with Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., MDConsequences of adverse early experiences have been demonstrated clearly, and profound compromises in attachment, as well as other domains of development, have been described. Intervention to remediate adversity has been shown to be effective, particularly if secure attachment relationships with caregivers can be fostered. Fostering secure attachments is a successful strategy for remediating adverse early experiences and promoting enhanced social and psychological functioning in subsequent development. Although social and emotional development are exquisitely vulnerable to adversity, they are also quite responsive to intervention.

Podcast link HERE

YouTube Video HERE

Childhood Trauma in Cultural Context

Lecture with Gabriel Ruiz, MD

When looking at what trauma “is” and how it is “experienced,” we must look at the cultural context of the child and family. when it comes to processing trauma, a child’s culture typically falls on a continuum ranging from the traumatic disruption of a child’s individual mind to the disruption of an entire community’s way of life. As teachers, clinicians, and professionals, what do we do when it is not only the child’s mind, but the child’s entire cultural way of functioning that is overwhelmed by trauma? Further, how do cultures that privilege a collective mindset mediate childhood trauma when compared to more individualistic cultures?

Podcast link HERE

YouTube Video HERE

When Children are Fearful – A Conversation with Dr. Lourdes Henares-Levy

Child psychotherapist and Institute Faculty Member Lourdes Henares, MD, offers down-to-earth advice to parents, teachers, counselors, and all who work with young children on how to best deal with a child’s fears and worries in these uncertain and sometimes frightening times.

Podcast link HERE

YouTube Video HERE

Cuando Los Niños Tienen Miedo: Una Conversación con la Dra. Lourdes Henares-Levy

La Doctora Henares es una psicoterapeuta y psiquiatra especializado en niños y adolescentes, es miembro facultativo de el Instituto Psicoanalítico de St. Louis, MO. En este video, la Dra. Henares ofrece consejos prácticos a padres de familia, maestros, educadores y personas que trabajan con problemas de salud mental, acerca de como ayudar a niños que sufren de miedo y angustia en tiempos como el presente en donde incertidumbre de el futuro es estresante. Mira AQUI

Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Passion and Pain in Parenting Adolescents

by Jacqueline Langley, PhD

Adolescence is defined, first, by physical maturational growth that corresponds with puberty. It is a time when our child’s little body transforms from a state of relative rest to an explosion of raging hormones and secondary sexual characteristics. It is marked by psychological changes such as giving up childhood images of beloved parents – and by exploding cognitive growth allowing for complex tasks.

Read More…

Parents, Children and Peril

Easing Youngsters’ Fears as War Comes Closer to Home

by Donald Rosenblitt, MD

We are living with a sense of national crisis. Children differ widely in the extent to which they are sensing and reacting to the current climate. We can help children cope successfully with these times by providing: Protection, Discussion, Reassurance, and Perspective.

Read More…

On The Air – Institute Interview on KWMU

Understanding Anxiety in Our Children – Barbara Milrod, MD, and Lenita Newberg, MSW

Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. That’s according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

“Anxiety is ubiquitous but an anxiety disorder is not,” said Dr. Barbara Milrod, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Milrod joined St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh along with Lenita Newberg, director of the Advanced Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Listen to the full interview HERE.

Articles of interest…

When One Parent Is Hurtful and the Other Stands By

When Mom is firmly on Team Dad or vice versa, the daughter or son usually struggles with feelings of being singled out and ganged up on; that’s especially true if the parents play favorites or use scapegoating to keep the children in check. That kind of dynamic creates a very specific kind of damage. But the parent as a bystander or one who acknowledges but palliates creates a deep mistrust of others and even distrust of love in the child which can last long into adulthood. Click on photo at right to read.

Mental Health Training for Teachers

“Psychoanalysts and psychotherapists who are well trained in the art of consultation can have a powerful impact on the emotional world of educators and other professionals in the business of helping children. We can help others know best how to respond to the challenges of responding sensitively to children by helping caretakers feel safe and listened to.” –Stuart Ozar, MD, Institute Faculty Member, Past President. Click on photo at right to read.

Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids

…and start raising kind ones. The point is not to badger kids into kindness, or dangle carrots for caring, but to show that these qualities are noticed and valued. Children are naturally helpful—even the smallest ones appear to show an innate understanding of others’ needs. By the time they are a year and a half old, many children are eager to help set the table, sweep the floor, and clean up games; by the time they turn two and a half, many will give up their own blanket for someone else who is cold. Click on photo at right to read.

Kids with Obesity Need Support

A group of pediatric obesity specialists are offering intensive support for kids with obesity with teams of doctors, psychologists, nutritionists and health coaches. And they take a radical approach: Don’t make kids feel bad about their weight, they say, and it just might be easier for them to lose it. As psychodynamically trained professionals we can really appreciate and learn from the sensitive work of pediatricians who are on working to address a wide range of health issues such as obesity. Click on photo at right to read.

What Exactly is a Toddler Tantrum?

Some words of explanation and wisdom from our friend, child specialist Dr. Claudia Gold:
I have always thought of tantrums as representing a sense of helplessness in children. In fact, in my over 20 years of practicing pediatrics I have told parents that, for the most part, tantrums are a normal healthy phenomenon. They occur when young children emerge for a stage of omnipotence in the first year to recognize that they are relatively powerless. In general, if there is increasing “defiance” it is important to take a step back and try to understand what feels out of control for the child. It might be that he is very sensitive to loud noises or taste, and battles around “making a scene” at a family outing or being “picky eater” are related to these sensory sensitivities. It might be that there is a new baby and everyone is chronically sleep deprived. Or there may be financial stress or marital conflict. Simply recognizing that these things are difficult for a child and acknowledging his experience, even if the stressors are still there, goes a long way in having a child feel understood, and in turn, decreasing “defiant” behavior. Click on photo at right to read.

When Kids Ask (Really) Tough Questions

* I know she died, but when is Grandma coming back?
*Why is your skin darker than Mommy’s?
*Why do we live here but Daddy doesn’t?
*Are you the tooth fairy?

5 strategies for answering kids’ super tough questions Click on photo at right to read.

Child and Adolescent Development

An Institute Cornerstone

Resources: Learn more…

Fourth Annual Child Development Conference

Gender + Sex + Kids Today = Confusion Helping Children Navigate Gender and Sexual Development

Understanding Symbolism in Child’s Play

A continuing education course with Rev. Linda A. Horrell, MDiv, MSW

Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis – Analytic Training Program/Analytic Theory Open Classes

Open Classes – Developmental Viewpoint

Herbert S. Schiele Clinic Internship/Practicum Programs

Institute Podcasts and YouTube Videos

Attachment at the Extremes

Childhood Trauma in Cultural Context

Lecture with Gabriel Ruiz, MD

When Children are Fearful – A Conversation with Dr. Lourdes Henares-Levy

Cuando Los Niños Tienen Miedo: Una Conversación con la Dra. Lourdes Henares-Levy

Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Passion and Pain in Parenting Adolescents

Parents, Children and Peril

Easing Youngsters’ Fears as War Comes Closer to Home

On The Air – Institute Interview on KWMU

Articles of interest…

When One Parent Is Hurtful and the Other Stands By

Mental Health Training for Teachers

Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids

Kids with Obesity Need Support

What Exactly is a Toddler Tantrum?

When Kids Ask (Really) Tough Questions

Gender + Sex + Kids Today = Confusion
Helping Children Navigate Gender and Sexual Development