PSYCHOLOGY AND ""THE GREAT GOD FUN

by A. E. Hamilton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 1955

As directors of the Hamilton School in Sheffield, Mass., Mr. Hamilton and his wife, affectionately known as Tajar and Ranger to their young pupils, have, over a period of years, developed their own ways of dealing with problem children. With their underlying principles the capacity for the growth and the joy of doing, the Hamiltons have based their work on play therapy but in implementing it they have used the path of reason in accordance with individual desires. At Sheffield most of the play therapy centered around Mr. Hamilton's work shop and the stories of some of the changeovers it witnessed are satisfying. There was Handle who came with a low I.Q. and a high inferiority complex and an unattractive psychological record with intimations of a split personality. Handle drew, but all he would drew was battle scenes until honest conversations and the walks in the woods that were manna to a budding naturalist, led to surreptitiously concealed pictures of trees. Handle was cured. Bird, an eleven year old whose instinct to kill was as strong as his instinct to preserve, and whose mind was quick, got man to man talks from Tajar. When his feelings were named to him. Bird became honest with himself and smart enough to realize just how far Tajar let him go, and why. As the results of reason and honesty rather than the gloved hand with which so much psychotherapy seems to be dealt out today, these studies have a heartening appeal.

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Julian Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION