Since 1950, the annual meetings of the American Orthopsychiatric Association have taken the form of a series of workshops where case studies are presented to relatively small groups of professionally trained people. This volume is a collection of 13 such case presentations by groups of psychiatrists and psychoanalysts from various clinics. Each report consists of detailed psychiatric interviews with the child and frequently with the mother. The reports are an example of good teamwork between psychiatrist, social worker, and clinic group.
The cases include age groups ranging from early childhood to adolescence. The emotional disabilities studied were stuttering, petit mal with enuresis, delinquent adolescence, acute anxiety, destructive behavior, and obesity.
One case presentation, entitled "Psychogenic Diarrhea and Phobia in a 6½ Year Old Girl," by Melitta Sperling, gives a detailed report of a child whose diarrhea began in infancy and persisted several years. The author makes no mention of common