ABSTRACT
One of the problems one is faced with in talking about the psychotherapeutic treatment of the withdrawn child, lies in the very wide range of problems that can be expressed through the same symptoms of withdrawal. In addition to the varied causative factors, there is the added complication that the withdrawn state can mean different things to different children. There are many ways of ‘communicating’, of sharing or partaking in an intimate exchange with someone else. Even with babies, a large part of how we receive any communication is through the medium of language. But it is important to note that language is the medium and not the sum total of the communication. Sometimes children use withdrawal in order to punish and reject their parents and others for some failure on their part. In the therapeutic situation however, it is the therapist who is made to feel punished and shut out.
