Published in 1949, this essay on child psychology and psychotherapy should be of especial interest to all parents and teachers of young children. Sidonie Reiss, who is a disciple of Adler, shows how his “individual psychology” enables one to deal with the problem of the difficult and maladjusted child - and especially the problem of the “spoilt” or “cosseted” child, who is commonly “the baby of the family,” though, as the authoress shows, the eldest child, and even the child of intermediate age, is liable to develop characteristic symptoms. Such troubles as over-compensation of the inferiority complex, exhausting efforts to rival or eclipse an older child, or attempts to achieve a spurious and showy success, or morbid discouragement, are traced to their original causes, and the problems of psychotherapeutic treatment and prevention are elucidated.
The latter part of the book is devoted to a number of typical cases which reveal how mal-adjustment arose, what symptoms it displayed, and how the victims were brought back to a happier condition of mind.