23
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 025 543 By- Sussman, Robert B.; Zimberg, Sheldon Psychiatric Consultation with Public Schools in an Underprivileged Neighborhood. Pub Date 22 Apr 67 Note- 22p.; Paper presented at a meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association (Washington, D.C., April 22, 1.967). EDRS Price MF-$0.25 HC-1.20 Descriptors- Administrative Problems, Conflict, *Consultation Programs, Counselors, *Disadvantaged Schools, Disadvantaged Youth, Elementary Schools, *Elementary School Students, Ghettos, Group Therapy, *Psychiatrists, Student Attitudes, 'Teachers Identifiers- Harlem, New York City This paper deals with the experiences of two psychiatric consultants at four public elementary schools in the central Harlem area of New York City. Administrative conflicts resulted in the abandonment of the consultation project at one school. In the remaining three schools the consultants provided help as specifically requested by the school guidance counselors. In one school the consultants supervised the guidance counselor in conducting group therapy sessions with seven 9-year-old children. In the other two the consultants conducted group discussions with counselors and teachers.- The _results of the project indicate that psychiatric consultants can help the school staff to cope with inappropriate attitudes and with conflicts among themselves. (LB) UD 004 065

the other of the project indicate thatall aggressive, restless children who did not listen in class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this, but with much doubt about the wisdom

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Page 1: the other of the project indicate thatall aggressive, restless children who did not listen in class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this, but with much doubt about the wisdom

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 025 543By- Sussman, Robert B.; Zimberg, SheldonPsychiatric Consultation with Public Schools in an Underprivileged Neighborhood.

Pub Date 22 Apr 67Note- 22p.; Paper presented at a meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association (Washington, D.C.,

April 22, 1.967).EDRS Price MF-$0.25 HC-1.20Descriptors- Administrative Problems, Conflict, *Consultation Programs, Counselors, *Disadvantaged Schools,

Disadvantaged Youth, Elementary Schools, *Elementary School Students, Ghettos, Group Therapy,

*Psychiatrists, Student Attitudes, 'TeachersIdentifiers- Harlem, New York City

This paper deals with the experiences of two psychiatric consultants at fourpublic elementary schools in the central Harlem area of New York City. Administrativeconflicts resulted in the abandonment of the consultation project at one school. Inthe remaining three schools the consultants provided help as specifically requestedby the school guidance counselors. In one school the consultants supervised theguidance counselor in conducting group therapy sessions with seven 9-year-oldchildren. In the other two the consultants conducted group discussions withcounselors and teachers.- The _results of the project indicate that psychiatricconsultants can help the school staff to cope with inappropriate attitudes and withconflicts among themselves. (LB)

UD 004 065

Page 2: the other of the project indicate thatall aggressive, restless children who did not listen in class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this, but with much doubt about the wisdom

011

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

u-\ THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE

Yoj ,"' " PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS

. STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION

0 POSITION OR POLICY.

.

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', .. PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATION WITH PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN

AN UNDERPRIVILEGED NEIGHBORHOOD,

. .

Robert:B. Sussman, M.D. and Sheldon Zimberg, M.D.:

INTRODUCTION

04bV

In recent years mental health consultation to schools

.has become an increasingly important subject of discussion

,among educators and mental health professionals. Educators

have recognized the importance of providing support to

'classxoom teachers in dealing with management and learning

problems through the Use of guidance counselors, educational

-1..r 'psychologists, and'by referring children with problems to

.child guidance clinics outside the school system. This

interest has also resulted in the increasing development

of mental health programs within school systems and a

.

,.... closer collaboration between educators and mental health.

6,10,17,18,21,26professionals..

The techniques and dynamics of mental health consultation4,7

.with educators have been elucidated by Caplan 'and Berlin

. 5 22 20(1956), Bernard, %Pearson, 'Neubauer and Beller, and

12 8 25

Hirning :(1958) Caplan (1959), Wylie and Sills (1960),16 2

,Kipfer et al, and Klein and Lindemann, (1961), Berlin,14 13 9

Kazanjian et al, and Hollister (1962), Gluck (1963),

3 19

, "Aerlin 0.964), and more recently Millar (1966). There has.

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been increasing involvement of.psychiatrists outside

school systems in this work. It can be expected that

the regionalization and greater local responsibility

for Mental health care that will result from the establish-

ment of community mental health centers will accelerate

the involvement of psychiatrists and other mental health

professionals with.schools in the catchment areas of

.. these centers. The variety of roles that a psychiatrist

can be called upon to play was discussed in a report

e

*of the Committee on Preventive Psychiatry of the Ameri-1

. can Psychiatric Association (1964) . These roles in-

clude clinical consultation to the school health depart-

ment; problem-centered consultation to,glaidance personnel,

direcepsychiatric congultation with children, the

participation of the psychiatrist in a child guidance

'clinic associated with the schools, research activities,

clinical services to the school staff, consultation to

. . teachers and/or administrators,,mental health education,4

for school personnel, and,program-centered consultation

.for administrators.

The need for help in the form of mental health con-

sultation as well as additional educational and clinical

services for school personnel in disadvantaged Negro

neighborhoods becomes.apparent when one observes the11

effects of de-facto sdgregation , socio-economic de-

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privation, and family disruption on children's ability

to learn; and the resultant pressures on teachers faced

with ,these problems. Such a conclusion was reached in

a Board of Education report based on the study of three23

Harlem schools in 1947. A survey conducted by the24

New York City Bureau of Child Guidance supported the

need for'increasing the amount of mental health con-

sultation-to the schools. .This paper is a description

of two psychiatric consultants' experiences in schools

operating under these conditions.

.Description of the ProJect

Two psychiatrists carried out the psychiatric con-

sultation program with four pUblic elementary.schools

-in the Central Harlem area of New York City. The psychia-

trists were post-graduate falaws in Columbia University's

Division of Community Psychiatry. As part of the field

work in CoMmunity Psychiatry, they were placed with the

Division of Child Psychiatry of Harlem Hospital Center,

which offered an ongoing program of 'consultation to the

local schools. Consultation was to be offered on a

weekly basis to two schools, bi-weekly to the other two

during the. Spring term of 1966. The consultative relation-

ship with one of the schools was dbruptly terminated at

thefbeginning:of the 'project for reasons to be discussed

belbw.

The initial contact at the schools was with a guid-

.

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ance counselor at one school and principals at the other three.

The psychiatrists worked with the senior guidance counselor

at the schools, and the type of consultation initially provided

. was based on the particular need expressed by the school

personnel. One school professional requested clinical super-

vision for herself in conducting group psychotherapy with

nine year olds; anodier requested meettngs with beginning

teachers to Aiscuss their prdblems in the school; at the

third school it was requested that consultation be made

available to the teaching staff and other interested staff

members; the fourth school wanted consultation for teachers

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and some professionals from the clinical arm of the Board

of Educatton who were working with specific children in the

school. -

School A4 At school A the guidance counselor said she wanted

The richools

to learn about groups and groups methods. She felt this was

the way of the future and she wanted to keep up with the

times; She felt some vague pressures on her from.within

the guidance profession that she work with groups. To this

end she had taken a course at a local college in group therapy.

She said that she was told that the only way really to learn

was to run a group of her awn. She wanted the psychiatrist

to be a co-therapist in running a group and to act as her

supervisor. She had already selected the group members;

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seven Negro children, age nine. There were four boys and

three girls. All were thought to have normal intellects

but were doing poorly in school. She did not consider

any of them to be really sick, and they would not normally

be referred for psychiatric treatment.

All came from broken homes, except one boy. He came

from a religious, stridt family, not on welfare, who were

bound and determined to make it on their own. He stuttered,

was tense, quite shy, and non-aggressive. The others were

all aggressive, restless children who did not listen in

class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this,

but with much doubt about the wisdom of such a plan; in

time it was hoped that a more helpful approach would evolve.

1

The first problem that was considered with the psychi-

atrist was to select a suitable room tohold the sessions.

Two rooms were available. One was the counselorts office,

.but this was quite small. The other was a large room, but

was used on occasion as a teachers lounge. There was the

pos'sibility of being interrupted there. The lounge was

finally selected because of its size. Meetings commenced

the text week.

.The group was initially organized around a box game

that all would play at the start of the meeting,, However,

this activity became disorganized as the children refused

to remain seated at the, table. They would run around the

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room, hitting each other and throwing things. The guid-

ance counselor was, upset at this, partly because the

.'children were not taking her directions, and partly

,

becOse she fearedthey would mess up the room or hurt

.each other. It developed that she was afraid of the

.criticism of other teachers if they should come into

.

the'room and see the mess the children were making.

For some weeks the ,children continued with this behavior.

Gradually they came to write on the blackboards. This

,started off with writing their names, then dirty words and

comments'about each other and curses. Then they began

to give themselves arithmetic and spelling problems in

'competition with each other and finally asked both the

guidance counselor and psychiatrist to give them problems

to do. This was where they were at the close of the term.

There was real improvement in the school work and

demeanor of the shy, stuttering child. No significant

changes were reported in the others outside the group

'meetings.

The guidance caunselor WAS bewildered by the activities

in the group meetings; she was quite impressed that the

children did not actually hurt each other during the

early. meetings. Toward the end she was pleasantly sur-

prised at the children's desire to write on the boards and

cOmpete with each other in this way. She was encouraged

by the psychiatrist to go along willingly with this and

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do some teaching. Problems arose concerning her relation-

ship with other school personnel. Various persons wou1d

came into the room during the meetings and she could

not bring herself to ask them to leave for fear of

offending them.

The psychiatrist was able to help her see that she

felt isolated in the school. She said.she could not

Vcai: with the other guidance counselor because he had no

formal training in the field, and that the other teadhers

gave her no cooperation. She saw herself as the only

taile in the school who really cared about the children.

But she felt she didn't know what to do to help them.

She had thought that groups, like the one she started,

were the best answer and that, in this way, she would

be using the most modern techniques to provide help.

However, she finally decided with the psychiatrist

that she must re-evaluate her situation in the school

. to see what other approaches might be open to her.

She decided she would discuss this further with the

'next psychiatricconsultant she was to have in the Fall

term rather than continue with group therapy. On that

note, the consultations at the sdhool ended for the

.term.a

School B: At school B there were two guidance counselors

who worked together. Both were Negro women, about forty

years old. One'was dynamic, and forceful, the other was

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more withdrawn and retiring.

They discussed freely with the psychiatrist the

problems that the.pupils had in school. These problems

centered about the difficult and unstable home situations.

The school had tried various programs to help--after

school study sessions, emphasis on Negro culture and

history in the United States, and attempts to build up

pride in being Negro. However, relations between the

school and the parents of the children were very bad,

and the counselors refused to discuss this situation.

They did say it was because of someone at the school

who had precipitated difficulties, but nothing cauld

be done about it.

The guidance counselors had in mind that the

psychiatrist would work with a group of five teachers

who had just begun to teach that term; and the psiPhiatrist

was agreeable to this arrangement. It was decided that

guidance counselors would sit in on the meetings.

The early meetings were centered on the problems

of discipline and class control. Gradually this was re-

placed by discussions of individual children and how

best to readh them and get them involved in school

activities. The members of the group would present

anecdotal material about the children and using family

badkground information supplied by the guidance counselors,

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the psychiatrist and teadhers together would try to deter-

mine why the child behaved as he did, and what was the

best way to handle him. There WAS a tendency for the

guidance counselors to give specific suggestions and

advice to the teachers. This tended to cut off the dist.-

cusiions prematurely. The psychiatrist was unable to

preventthem from doing this or get theel to see what

they were doing. Repeated requests were made by the

counselors that the psychiatrist give more clinical

psychiatric talks and evaluations of specific cases.

This was resisted by,and large.

At the close of the term the counselors felt some-

what unsatisfied by what hd been accomplished by the

sessions. The teachers, however, had been quite in-

volved in the sessions and saw them as a good thing

The psychiatrist felt that in spite of the open and

forthright atmosphere that the guidance counselors

were trying to create, they actually had repressive

and inhibitory influences on these young teachers.

He tried to counter these influences by promoting more

profound discussions between them.

School C: The initial contact with this school was

with the guidance counselor. At the first meeting with

the guidance counselor and acting principal, the time,

place and format of the consultation sessions were de-

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cided. The school personnel wanted lectures on.a variety

of important.areas presented by the psychiatrist to an

open ended group of teachers durtng the lunch haur, once

a week. Release time from classes could not be provided

by the school since there would be no one to cover the

teachers' classes.

The psychiatrist believed that lectures would not

be particularly helpful, but initially went along with

the request. It was felt that in this school as in

school A the teachers in the group would make their

needs known, and a more5 helpfUl approach involving

group process would evolve.

The first group meeting involved a discussion by

the psychiatrst of the "Impulsive Child. The psychiatrist's

discussion.was soon punctuated with many questions fram

the teachers who made reference to problem children in

their classes. The psychiatrist responded to these

questions by drawing out the teachers in order to get

more information and a feeling for* the problems encountered

by the teachers. The next few sessions Similarly in-

volved the discussion of problem children.

After several sessions it was decided to have dis-

cussions centered on a particular chikd. Hoptfully,

generalizations could be applied to similiar difficulties

faced by other teachers.

The teachers at first pressed the psychiatrist.to

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provide solutions for the problems presented in the form

of requests for management prescriptions. The psychiatrist

explained that he was not an expert on education or

classroom management; the teacheis were the experts

in these areas. He stated that his role was to explore

with the teachers some of the Causes of difficulties

presented by some of the children and to increase their

understanding of human behavior and feelings so that

they might be in a better position to deal with their

own feelings and with the problems that they faced.

Some teachers were able to accept this position

but others were not, and at times would continue to

adk "what should I do"? Various teachers began to

discuss the ways they had dealt with similar problems,

and the guidance counselor often contributed his

understanding of the problem and some ways of dealing

with it. Thus, an open discussion atmosphere de-

veloped in which teachers with more experience in some

areas were helping those with less experience. The

guidance counselor was able to discuss at length his

involvement with the child, bringing to bear additional

information about the family and home life of the

child. After a number of weeks the teachers were ex-

pressing feelings about the conditions under which

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they worked, and the many children with problems they

had to handle in the classroom. The teachers were able

to be more open with themselves and their colleagues

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in the group where there was sharing of common problems

and mutual helping had been established.

The psychiatrist avoided any attempt at inter-

pretation of the teacher's behavior or feelings, and

discouraged discussion of personal problems in order

;to avoid a group therapy situation. At times, this

was a difficult task since many aspects of a therapy

group developed, including positive and negative trans-

ferences to the psychiatrist. The group did have

therapeutic aspects, however, in the form of the parti-

cipants' better understanding that the negative feelings

they had were shared by others, and that the problems

that they faced were not a reflection of their being

,bad teachere.

At times the psychiatrist would raise questions

concerning what additional information would be helpful.

.in understanding a child's problem, and possible relation-

ships of home situation to school problem. Such dynamic

relationships were not made in technical terminology,

but in terms of understandable requirements of healthy

development..

A chronological review of a child's problem could

be done since teachers from several grades were present,

some of whom had the child in their 'class when he wus

younger. In addition, the differing reactions to a

male and female teadher that was dbserved at times

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was helpful in explaining'aspects'of the transference

phenomenon.

This open discussion of a child's problem raised

the issue of confidentality.' Should teachers be made

aware of home situations of their pupils? Should

family history such as an alcoholic father or promis-

cuous mother be discussed by teachers whose role is

basically to teach, and who tight use such information

against the child? This issue was discussed in the

group, and the psychiatrist stressed the need for con-

fidentiality. The group felt that teachers as pro-

fessionals were responsible individuals whose interest

was.to help children. Thus, a definition of a teacher

as a potentially helping person, not simply as an im-

parter of knowledge emerged. However, this complex

issue was not adequately resolved. The psychiatrist

agreed with the teachers, but he felt that probably

only a minimum of family history was necessary, and then

only in general terms0.to the understanding of the

prOblems presented by the teachers; and care should be

taken to avoid gossip and misuse of such information.

A number of types of problems in the classrooms

were discussed including impulsive children, passive

, and defiant children, underachieving children, and the

. child who returns.to school after institutionalization;

I Also discussed were problems of curriculum content

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such as the place of Negro History and current Negro

activities in the schools, the issue of busing of child-

ren to achieve integration, and some effects of de-facto

segregation on the children. The group was composed

of both Negro and white teachers, and the weekly sessions

provided an opportunity to discuss some of these com-

plex and emotion-laden issues.

Toward the end of the project, questions con-

cerning administrattve procedures and services that

could be helpful to the children were discussed. The

need for more junior guidance classes and guidance

counselors, smaller classes, and more teacherst aides

became apparent. ,The value of the separate schools

for emotional disturbed children was explored. The

relationships of the classroom teacher to the school

administration was raised, and the question of whether

the principal should always back a teacher who was

having a dispute with a parent was cansidered.

The group consultation sessions underwent an evolution

both in the format of the sessions and in the perception

of the'psychiatrist by the group. The psychiatrist was

at first perceived as having all the answers and as being

an all around expert. In time the teachers realized

that the psydhiatrist could learn from the group meetings

as well as they themselves, and a more collaborative

effort emerged. A forum of professional exchange

between teachers and the guidance counselor concerning

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common problems and feelings developed out of the

original plan of having the psychiatrist give lectures.

The focus of the discussions swung away from individual

problems of children to ways of providing help to the

children in terms of administrative changes and increasing

services to the school. The initial feelings of

frustration and resignation that many of the teachers

demonstrated in talking of their overcrowded classrooms,

and the difficult children who showed little incli-

nation to learn changed to a determination to try to

get the needed additional services for their school.

In addition, the teachers who participated in most

of the sessions seemed to better understand the re-

lationship between home problems and difficulties the

children showed in school. The time of the project

was too short to have determined a significant effect

of the group discussions on attitudes and behavior of

the teachers in the classroom. However, the way the

children were discussed toward the end of the project

was different in terms of greater freedom of expression

of the teachers', feelings, a more optimistic outlook,

and understanding that problems in the classroom did not

mean that they were bad teachers.

School D: School D was selected to be part of the

consultation project because of its proximity to the

hospital, a number of pupils from the school were being

treated at the child psychiatry clinic, an after-school

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program conducted by the Division of Child Psychiatry

was basea in the school, and the interest which was

expressed by the principal. A conflict had developed

between the school administration arid the Division of

Child Psychiatry over the school's tendency to suspend

children with behavior problems, even some who were

in treatment (a problem that exists with a number of

schools). It was hoped that a collaborative relation-

ship could be developed that would help the school

keep the children in the classroam, and possibly de-

crease the number of referrals through the provision

of psychiatric consultation for the school personnel.

However, the project did not get off the ground and

was cancelled after the first meeting with the principal.

Soon after the psychiatrist had discussed his

involvement in the school with the principal, a

jurisdictional dispute developed within the school

concerning the psychiatrist's role. This dispute

resulted in the abandoning of the psychiatric con-

sultation ptoject by the school. Such prdblems are

not uncommon in consultative situations and indicates

the importance of the consultant understanding the

dynamics Of the organization in whch he plans to be

involved. Continued discussion with the 'principal

and other school personnel alleviated the problems

to sone extent and resulted in the acceptance of a

jM'

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Page 18: the other of the project indicate thatall aggressive, restless children who did not listen in class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this, but with much doubt about the wisdom

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psychiatrip consultant for this school beginning in the

Fall of 1966.

Di s cus si on

We have recounted the experiences of two psychiatric

consultants who were involved with four public elementary

schools in the Central Harlem area of New York City.

In one school, where the psythiatrist came with a

specific point of view and task to accomplish, that of

reducing psychiatric referrals to the local hospital,

and altering administrative attitudes toward school

suspension's, various counter pressures and conflicts

forced him out of the school.

In the other three instances his primary

gation was to relate well to the person who has called

him in, and be open to all variety of suggestions.

For the sake of maintaining a good relationship he

may have to do things he has grave question dbout; but

he then tries to move the situation onto more stable

grounds. Thus, in the school where group therapy was

done with the pupils, the consultant eventually was

able to get the guidance counselor to see the broader

aspects of her involvement in the school and begin to

understand that there might be better ways.to help the

children. In the other two instances the psychiatrist

. was initially forced into an omnipotent position. The

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18.

remainder of the term was spent in trying to form a

*more workable relationship with the guidance counselors

and teachers which could be of greater benefit to the

teachers in their day to day classroom activities.

In ghetto areas like Harlem there is great community

pressure exerted on the schools. Staff may be pushed

into inappropriate attitudes, and conflicts may be

created between the school and the public, as well as

between various members of the staff. This is not

helpful to the childrdn. The psychiatrist can assist

by helping staff to cope with these pressures and there-

by allow them to use their own professional training

and background.to the best possible advantage.

The results of this project demonstrated that it

was possible for psychiatric consultants to provide

help to school personnel in three out of four schools

that were involved. Although limitations were initially

imposed on the psychiatrists, they were able to modify

the consulteest attitudes so that a more useful con-

sultation situation developed.

4

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Page 20: the other of the project indicate thatall aggressive, restless children who did not listen in class. The psychiatrist agreed to assist her in this, but with much doubt about the wisdom

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Caplan, G. 1956. ,Mental Health Consultation In

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Ad00tOti3X

8.- Caplan, G. 1959. Mental Health Consultation. In

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b

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Ard00OU3X

Newman, R.G., Redl, F., and Kitchener, H.L. 1962.

Technical Assistance In A Public School System.

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3 AdOO

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