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As a former student, and colleague of Henri Parens for close to 50 years, I have seen up close his dedication to and work with Mothers and their infants and children in group settings. The goal of his interventions was the prevention of ACE's (adverse childhood events), early trauma, and their consequences of relationship problems, delinquency, and other forms of mental and emotional illness, what he termed “experience derived emotional disorders”.
The last time I spoke about Henri was 13 years ago at the launching of the Henri Parens Hope scholarship at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Then I was able to speak directly to Henri. Today, I will talk about Henri's professional baby, the Early Child Development Project, begun in 1970 and its impact on the parents and children who benefitted from it, as well as on myself and fellow trainees; whose careers were enriched by working with Henri.
As Research Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania (now Drexel University College of Medicine) from 1969 to 92, Henri began to observe mothers and their babies in a group setting while teaching child development to observing staff and students. He hoped that if parents understood more about children's emotional development they could become more patient and flexible in their parenting.
How to understand 2-year-old Timmy who bit his playmates when they took his toy or got too close to him. Crossing the room, he held his mom's hand tightly, passing other kids with his mouth closed, mumbling to himself, “Timmy, Don't Bite”.
Many of us have forgotten these dilemmas of parenting small children…but never Henri!
How could Timmy's mother learn to help him handle his aggression in a growth promoting way? Henri's work transformed our understanding of aggression in young children and showed us the enormous potential of parent education to make child rearing a more gratifying experience for both parents and children.
From 1970 to 90 Henri's Child Development Project