Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Professor's Goal is to Help Children
By Rose Ellen Osborne Managing Editor)
Dr. Glen Christensen, professor of child development, is distinctive on the campus for his warm smile, his bow tie and his optimistic outlook on life.
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Children are Dr. Christensen's mission in life. Before coming to KU, Dr. Christensen worked at the Wisatch Child Guidance Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a psychiatrist and a specialist for problem children.
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Dr. Christensen called children who puzzled their parents and harassed their teachers, "little ones in the process of struggle, trying to realize their own humanhood."
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AT THE CLINIC, Dr. Christensen met each of his young patients as a friend and attempted to speak to each in his own language.
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The diagnosis of a child's problems is difficult because children are not able to express their emotions in verbal symbols.
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Play therapy was used as a medium of expression between doctor and patient at the clinic.
The Wisatch clinic was equipped with a playroom with a life-size doll-house. Near the house stood a row of large dolls representing each member of the family. A tank of water, a dartboard and a tall rubber clown stood in one corner of the room.
"The water is soft, and life has been hard for these little ones," he said.
SOME OF THE children would lean over the tank and let the water sift through their fingers for hours. Dr. Christiansen said.
One child, Joey, age seven, tried to drown the mother-figure by holding her under the water in the tank.
Joey had an organic brain lesion
in the emotional area of his brain. He had trouble controlling his temper at home or at school. He had tried to choke his baby brother.
Like many of the clinic's cases, Joey's problem was rooted deep within the family, making "family therapy" a necessity.
CONFERRING WITH both mother and child for two years. Dr. Christensen helped the boy control his emotions. In Dr. Christensen Joey found a friend who believed in him and loved him.
"When he discovered that I loved him, he thought maybe it is possible that 'Mama loves me too.'"
Dr. Christensen says that you can never spoil a child with too much love.
"Love is never capable of destructive consequences. Sometimes what passes for love is merely overindulgence. When parents begin substituting material things for their own physical presence, the security and closeness which comes with family life are sacrificed for economic gain," he said.
"THE FAMILY where the father is often absent is in a real sense a broken home. The frequency of this situation is causing the switch from a patriarchy to a matriarchy in the family in our society today."
Steve was a child who had a father in name only. Both of Steve's parents were mentally ill. The child had seen his father try to kill his mother on several occasions.
"At 11, the constant thought of death preoccupied Steve. He was afraid to leave the house to go to school for fear that something might happen." Dr. Christensen said.
THERE WAS LITTLE love in Steve's family. During his first visit
"I have never liked Steve. In fact I have hated him since the day he was born. I hate myself also," the father said.
A comforting speaker and an understanding listener, Dr. Christensen and Steve's father soon became friends. For the first time in his life, Steve's father said "I like you" to another human being.
with Dr. Christensen, Steve's father made no effort to conceal his feelings.
One night after a series of treatment sessions, Steve's father put his arm around the boy's shoulder and said, "Let's go home, son."
He remembered one middle-aged patient of his who had never taken the time to enjoy the unconcern of childhood. Call him John.
"JOHN'S FATHER was an alcoholic. His mother had to work. Growing up was a traumatic experience. John learned early that life is brutal. You have to get in the first lick and John didn't wait. He hit first.
"NO MATTER HOW bad a man is presumed to be, the most basic level of his being is not bad at all," Dr. Christensen says. "Deep down is a yearning for something better."
John had been in and out of reformatories and jails. He went to the University of Michigan and was on probation when he came to see Dr. Christensen.
IT TOOK MANY months and almost a miracle before the psychiatrist broke through that protective wall which John had erected between himself and the world.
"One morning he burst into my office and took me outside to see the green leaves on the trees." Dr. Christensen said.
"The man had never encountered beauty, tenderness and love. He had never noticed the green leaves on a tree."
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