Regular readers of this column are no doubt familiar with my imaginary friend, The Doctor. I often call upon him to solve behavior problems of various sorts concerning young children. Well, The Doctor has done it again! This time with what many mental health professionals would call separation anxiety.
The child in question is a boy, age 5. His mother attended a talk I gave recently and shared this story with me. With her permission, I am passing it along. She asked only that I change her son’s name, so for our purposes he will be "Georgie."
For some time, Georgie had been having a problem with separation from his mother. Every time she took him to his preschool program, for example, Georgie had a major meltdown. Like, MAJOR. He would become hysterical. Otherwise, mind you, Georgie was a normal kid in all respects.
