European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Treating infant psychological problems baby ranks by Gayle Young United press International Stanley Greenspan s favorite Case of successful baby psychology involved a 4-Monlh-Oid infant who would not look at human lace tha baby boy. Alternately abused and neglected since birth would lie in his crib and stare at the ceiling. When anyone approached he would turn his head to the Wail. Bui he would look at the colors red yellow end Black so a psychologist painted a cardboard mask in those colors and put it on her own Ace he d look at it and then she d pull it away and show him her own smiling face said or. Greenspan a founding father of baby psychology. Within a month that Little boy who would t look at any face became a baby who was in love with the world he said. He was Bright and smiting and perfectly  the treatment of the psychological problems of babies is a new held but it is growing at a rapid Pace with a dozen treatment centers Onalfo Nolde and hundreds of experts emerging Only in the past five years. A cent Rai Earch has indicated babies from birth to age three can suffer depression become emotionally withdrawn and racked with tension. Proper and Early treatment can catch developmental problems at the source and produce Well adjusted children who grow up into Wes adjusted adults. Some psychologists dismiss the new Field saying they Lear Over anxious parents will become prey to unscrupulous baby shrinks but most View it with a combination of enthusiasm and caution. Some of the most exciting work that s happening in social behaviour is with infants said Bonnie Strickland president of the american psychology association and professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst i think researchers and psychologists Are approaching this with sensitivity and  according to Greenspan professor of child development at the George Washington University medical school in Washington research has shown babies pass through stages of emotional development just As they pass through stages of physical development. A Well adjusted baby Falls in love with the world somewhere around the second month of life and experiences a Gamut of emotions including anger Joy fear and frustration by the first year. Even very Young babies try to control their emotions Greenspan and other specialists said. By the time hey Are toddlers most children understand the concept of emotions and How to use them. Basically they re manipulative Little things Greenspan said with a chuckle. However psychologists say babies need interaction with other humans in order to pass through these stages. Without stimulation from a Parent or other care giver babies can get off track setting the stage for possible psychological problems in later life. It s becoming obvious that the earlier the intervention the better Strickland said. Almost All babies now treated for psychological problems Are abused or abandoned not children from stable Loving families according to psychologies. An abused Baity May not consciously remember Ihbe abuse but it will be a Factor in How they function in the future said Eleanor Stokes Szanton executive director of the National censer for clinical intall programs in Washington. We re not saying it s now or never. We Aren t saying a baby can t learn emotion Kiter in life she said. Adults can team to read but it s easier when they re  doctors said ii is a simple task to Tell which babies Are Well adjusted and which Are in need of psychological treatment. A baby should be a giggly cooing playful baby who snakes Eye Contact and plays funny games with faces said or. Steven Bennett chief of child and infant psychology at Harlem Hospital. The babies we see Don t make Eye Contact. They have dead  Bennett s sparse office on the win floor of Harlem s main Hospital reveals the budgetary confines of his Pioneer Center. A cardboard Box on a table contains its Only toys a headless rag doll a Well chewed plastic doll and a Square Box with missing round pegs. We re taking an enormous Quantity of theory and applying it to the Public where it s needed most a said. I see these townhouses on the East Side now with these High priced doctors treating babies. We re Here on the  eight years ago when Harlem Hospital started its infant psychology program Lew agencies would Reter mothers there. They thought you had to be crazy to Lake your baby to a psychiatrist Bennett said. Now 50 babies and try eur families Are treated at the Canter each year. Bennett said the major focus of the program is on the parents not the children. If you have a Mother who is hungry living without heat and has no support network then she s not going to be an effective Mother he said. Other psychiatrists and psychologists who treat infants agreed that much of their Lime is spent with parents showing them How to respond and interact with their children. Frequently we help the mothers More than the  said or. Taghi Modarressi a psychiatrist and director of the Center for infant studies at the University of Maryland school of Medicine in Baltimore. 8ul doctors said they also try to interact directly with unresponsive babies in an Eltory to put hem Back on the Road to proper emotional development. Research hut shown thai babies past through of get c the doctors described a variety of techniques most of which sound like old fashioned tender Loving care. You have to Start by introducing sight and sound in a Way that s not Loo frightening Greenspan said we show them new sights or sounds carefully Over a period of Days or even weeks until he gives us a Little smile he said. Then we know we be got  Greenspan said it is important for someone Parent psychologist or social worker to stimulate a despondent baby to attempt human Contact. If a baby reaches out you have to gurgle or Coo Back he said. That s How a baby learns the meaning of emotions How to  but the baby experts also said too much stimulation too soon May make a despondent baby even Mere wary of a world perceived As hostile. Some abused babies become rigid and lense around other human beings. Psychologists said gentle Massage cuddling and finding positions that make them comfortable can ease their stress. A baby has lived practically minute by minute whereas an adult lives Day by Day said child psychology researcher Patricia Nachman of the new school for social research in now York. A temporary respite in tension goes a Long Way with  Greenspan and other doctors said heir therapy is More aggressive in older babies and toddlers who have begun to talk and walk. Much of Tho treatment centers on toy therapy in which dolls Are used to teach Small children about emotions and How to express them. We had one Little girl a 2v your old victim of abuse who was alternately cautious and aggressive toward other children Greenspan mid. The child would make Page 14 the stars and stripes Friday