George L. Perkins, MD: The Wounded Child's Advocate (From Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Very Troubled Child: Therapeutic Practice Innovations in Residential and Educational Settings, P 3-6, 1989, Jacquelyn Seevak Sanders and Barry L Childress, eds. -- See NCJ-123477)

• NCJ Number: 123478
• Author(s): J Kavka
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: Haworth Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

George Perkins (1911-1987), who was involved in major Chicago institutions that offered services to disturbed children, was the psychiatric advocate of the abused child throughout his career as clinician, supervisor, and consultant.

Abstract

George Perkins was an advocate for the abused child in the best clinical sense of facilitating differential diagnoses, recognizing basic issues, and encouraging effective confrontations not only through interpretation but also through environmental influence. He was most protective of children's right to protect themselves from abuse and grow in their own way. He was particularly aware of the vicissitudes of the instincts, the defenses, and the ego defects and strengths in each person and each family situation. He was committed to traditional psychoanalytic theory and practice, although he showed an optimism and activism that went beyond the usual psychoanalytic approach, foreshadowing current modifications of psychoanalytic technique. He demonstrated a therapeutic realism coupled with a sensitive noninterference in patients' goals.