Children's Mental Health Prevention and Treatment Center

The Children's Mental Health Prevention and Treatment Center has never been an exclusive place for "correcting problem children" in the popular stereotype. It is a public mental health service position for children and families aged 0-16 years old, covering the entire cycle of psychological science popularization, risk screening, early intervention, clinical treatment, and rehabilitation follow-up.

When I was on duty at the front desk of the center last Wednesday, I met a mother who was dragging her third-grade son in. She was scolding her as she walked: "If you make trouble again, the doctor will lock you up and correct your problem." The little boy clutched the crumpled Ultraman card in his pocket until his knuckles turned white. He didn't even dare to raise his head when he entered the door. In fact, this is also the first impression that most people have of us: it seems that only children who need to come here are needed when "something big happens" - either they are tired of school and play truant, or they hit others and harm themselves.

Interestingly, regarding the path of psychological intervention for children, the academic community and the clinical frontline have actually always had different priorities. Some psychiatrists with a biomedical orientation will put more emphasis on the intervention of pathological indicators. For example, children diagnosed with ADHD, moderate or above depression, or tic disorders should not take medication as prescribed by the doctor. Previously, we had a 10-year-old child with tic disorder. The parents were afraid of side effects of taking the medicine, so they just did it. During the six months of behavioral modification, the symptoms of throat clearing and shoulder shrugging became more and more severe, and I was even unable to attend classes normally. Later, after evaluation, the doctor at the joint clinic prescribed a small dose of medication, combined with weekly game therapy. In less than two months, the symptoms were relieved by 80%, and I am now able to participate in the school's football team normally. Some counselors who do family systems therapy are more inclined to regard children's problems as "symptom exits" of the entire family and school system. Last year, we received a second-grade girl who was recommended by the school to "suspend school for medical treatment." The parents said that she lied every day and refused to go to school. After the evaluation, we found out that her parents were in the hospital every day during that time. The family was quarreling about the divorce, and they took it out on her at every turn. As long as she had a fever and stomachache, her parents could temporarily stop fighting and take care of her together. Later, we did 8 family therapy sessions for the whole family. The parents adjusted their relationship and made it clear to their children, "I will never stop loving you even if we are separated." The little girl took the initiative to carry her schoolbag and go back to school the next week. Neither of these two ideas is right or wrong. Different children are suitable for different intervention plans. Our center now opens a joint clinic, which combines the two ideas and makes a customized plan for each child.

Oh, by the way, many people are startled when they come to our center for the first time, thinking that they will see white coats, consultation desks, and the smell of disinfectant water as soon as they enter. In fact, the walls in our corridor are all paintings drawn by children who come for consultation. A 4-year-old girl who came last year painted our play therapy room as " Don't tell me, "Magic House with Marshmallows", that room does have a whole box of Lego, two large cabinets of picture books, and a sand play pool covered with plush carpets. Even the chairs have rounded corners and are soft to sit on. Most children refuse to leave when they go in. It doesn't look like it's "curing a disease."

People from the older generation often say to us: "We didn't have so much to do when we had seven or eight children at that time. Today's children are just too spoiled." We had a retired primary school teacher here as a volunteer before. She said the same thing when she first came here, until she took a case of a 7-year-old girl. The child usually had good grades, but she got a fever when it came to exams. The family thought she was faking it. After talking to her three times, they found out that her grandmother would compare her with the neighbor's children every time she took the exam. She would pinch her arm if she didn't get into the top three. The little girl didn't dare to tell her parents, so she had to rely on being sick to avoid it. The old teacher became red-eyed when he found out, and never said the words "child is pampered" again. Last year, we counted more than 1,200 cases throughout the year. 62% of children's emotional problems were caused by long-term family neglect, campus bullying or academic pressure. Less than 10% were simply sensitive personalities. Today's children have been exposed to a huge amount of information since they were young, and the pressure of academic competition is more than double that of 20 years ago. We really can't apply the old calendar to today's life.

I have been working here for almost five years. To be honest, the most fulfilling thing is not how many serious cases have been cured. It is that many parents were very angry when they first came here and felt that "there is nothing wrong with my children, they just deserve to be spanked." When they left, they could squat down, look at their children at eye level and say, "I'm sorry, mom didn't notice that you were so uncomfortable before." When we do "prevention and treatment", the focus is on "prevention" and not "treatment". If parents are willing to come over and have a chat when their children are just a little bit wrong - for example, they suddenly stop talking, or their temper suddenly becomes irritable, it will not be delayed to the point of suspending school or self-mutilation.

Yesterday, there was a 5-year-old boy who had been here before. He held his mother's hand and came to give us a small sunflower he planted on the balcony. The flower disk has not fully bloomed yet, and the petals on the edges are a little wilted. He held up the flower and said to me, "Auntie, look, now I dare to compete with the children in the kindergarten for the slide." The whole office came to look at it. That little broken flower was more beautiful than all the advanced unit certificates we had received in previous years.