Chapter 4: Methods of Psychological Remediation of Emotional Disorders on Children

Abstract

Parents usually come to the A.R. Luria Pediatric Neuropsychology Research Center (PNRC) with children with learning difficulties that are manifested in attentional defects; difficulties assimilating the school program; impaired interaction with teachers and peers; behavioral abnormalities; emotional immaturity; and lack of formation of a sense of responsibility, communication skills and adaptive behavior. It is well known from discussions with parents that before coming to the Center most of them attempted to improve their children’s academic performance with the aid of supplemental educational activities (in school or with tutors), tightening discipline, or resorting to medical care. None of these methods, however, was successful: for a short time the quality of the children’s behavior and learning would improve, but then would return to the previous level, which would create a constant reason for rebukes from teachers and the school administration. As a result, the parents were forced to look for other means of assistance, and this search brought them to the PNRC. When parents come to the PNRC with a child, the work is structured as follows: at the first meeting with a psychologist, the Center’s specialists not only study the medical and pedagogical documentation, examining the child’s level of performance and the nature of his mistakes in written work, but also analyze (with the aid of a specially designed questionnaire) the history of the child’s prenatal, perinatal, and early postnatal development in order to identify the psychological, biological, and social mechanisms of the difficulties being experienced by the child. The child is then sent for an examination to a neuropsychologist and a psychologist who specializes in emotional and personality problems. This examination is aimed at