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                                      Contact:  Katherine Jackson

      EARLY INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS
             IS GOAL OF NEW U.VA. CHILD STUDY CENTER
                                
     CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA., Jan. 24--A new Center directed at early
intervention for children under five experiencing adjustment
problems, including feeding, sleeping and separation difficulties,
opened recently at the University of Virginia Health Sciences
Center. 
     A $100,000 gift from Mrs. Mary Birdsall of Albemarle provided
seed money for the Under-Fives Study Center in the Department of
Psychiatric Medicine.  A three-dimensional service, it offers
counseling services for young families, training for pediatric
professionals and a research component. Center hours are 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For appointments call (804) 924-2251.
     The Under-Fives Study Center offers a prompt response to
difficulties when they first crop up, says Director Pamela Berse
Sorenson.  It's important for families to understand that what
happens to a child before age five primes him to respond to later
experiences. "If a child is rooted in secure attachments to the
important figures in his life, then he is ready to explore the
world and to make good use of new experiences," says Sorenson.
     "But if he is frightened and worried about himself and the
people who care for him, he cannot encounter his world with 
 curiosity and the desire to learn." 
     "'Ordinary life problems', such as adjusting to a new sibling,
a new home or a new parent, happen all the time. But if these 
problems are not responded to in an appropriate and timely way,
what starts out as ordinary difficulties can become serious
behavior problems later," Sorenson says. Early intervention at the
time of distress enables the parent and child to face problems
together, allowing them to continue the momentum towards normal
development.
     "Children under five cannot explain their troubles and are
overlooked and the significance of their development is overlooked,
too.  We want to sensitize people to the great importance of these
years as character-building years," she says.   
     During a series of six one-hour counseling sessions at the
Center, interactions between parents and children are observed and
discussed. The series cost $50. If difficulties remain after the
sessions, referrals are made for further help.  
     Sorenson hopes pediatricians will refer patients to the Under-
Fives counseling service when physical origins of a problem have
been ruled out.       
     Training professionals is another important task of the
Center. "All professionals need to understand the complexities of
infant development," says Sorenson, a child psychotherapist trained
at the Tavistock Clinic in London. The Under-Fives Center enables
fellows in U.Va.'s child psychiatry program to participate 
for two years in an infant observation seminar, an unusual part of
child psychiatry training, she says. Infant observation training is
highly valued by students as preparation for their work with older
children and their families, says Sorenson.  
     Future Center plans include seminars designed to educate
community members about family life.  Sorenson expects to develop
a course for professional care givers on culture and infancy
because people from different cultures have different ideas on
child-rearing and development.
     Under the research component of the Center, Sorenson expects
to develop research into the interaction between mothers and babies
in an effort to learn what parents do to promote their infant's
development and what they may do, unintentionally, that inhibits
their development. 
                               ###
                                        January 23, 1995