Love Is Not Enough: The Treatment of Emotionally Disturbed Children

by Bruno Bettelheim

A report on the daily activities at a center for the treatment of children with emotional problems

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 1950

About the author

Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990) was an Austrian-born American child psychologist and writer. He gained an international reputation for his views on autism and for his claimed success in treating emotionally disturbed children.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book a second time is just as delightful as reading it the first time! Bettelheim's clarity of thought and compassion for children are expressed in a thorough and engaging manner. His Freudian background comes through with a subtle admixture of Jung. Just take a look at a sample of his insightful writing: "We have found that children who were prematurely forced into a pseudo-adequacy have learned to defend themselves against the anxiety and resentment created by pressure from their parents; they do it by exaggerating the behavior they feel their parents demand of them: by being overly active. But while they show greater activity, they also defeat the parental intentions by acting without purpose, or in asocial ways. In addition, they defend themselves from the temptation to rest by their frantic, though purposeless activity."
Does this sound like anyone you know or perhaps yourself? It clearly describes my first 30 years of life.

[Alexa Doran · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was certainly fascinating and well-written, the suggestions made were often downright horrifying. Keeping in mind this is an older text, one needs to consider our awareness of sugar as poison and be sure not to follow in this Willy Wonka's footsteps. Further, some of the suggested practices are outright transphobic. I think this man did important work, but work for which we need the whole bag rather than just a grain of salt.