Page    1   2   3   of this article. From the book - Man in the Trap , E. F. Baker   He was a wanted child, the first, and to that time, the only one. He was born normally after nine hours' labor with no instruments used in delivery. The mother suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, and for the first six weeks after delivery found nursing a trial because the baby demanded feeding every one and a half or two hours. Either he was not getting enough to eat, or he was demanding nursing because he could not get adequate contact from the mother. However, his nursing was vigorous, and at ten and a half months he voluntarily stopped and ac-cepted a bottle. (He started to walk at the same time.) No specific information could be obtained from the parents to account for his condition. The father seemed to be quiet, permissive, and gentle; he apparently had good rapport with the baby. Overtly, the mother's relationship was not as good, but she seemed to be genuinely interested in the baby's welfare. She tried to be a good mother and religiously tried to follow a book on child care. Of course, following a book indicated that she was unable to follow or trust any natural maternal instincts. She was quite contactless and had a great deal of buried hostility; sexually she was frigid. The father stated that prior to and during the first three months of marriage before the pregnancy she had been quite free sexually and had adjusted well. Since then, she had gradually withdrawn from sexual activity and when I saw them had no interest in it. Her lack of interest was accentuated by a vaginal infection. One could guess that when she nursed her nipples were cold; she reported no pleasure in nursing. For the first visit, both parents came with the baby and remained in the room while I examined him. The father took charge of the baby, undressing him and putting him on the couch. The baby whimpered a bit and I talked to him, trying to make some contact. Suddenly, he stood up, ran to me, and threw his arms around my neck, holding me tight. I held him, continuing to talk to him and explaining that I wanted to examine him and see if I could help him feel less miserable. Then I laid him on the couch. He was a beautiful child, but I have never seen one so badly damaged biophysically at that age. His jaws were held rigidly tight, and his throat was so constricted that he gasped for breath with his head shaking every I time he inhaled. His chest did not move in breathing and his spinal muscles felt like iron bands. The occipital muscles were extremely contracted and the pelvis was held rigid. His eyes were only partly open and his expression was one of a determined holding back at all costs. The submental area was rigid and pushed down by pressure from the tongue-indicating held back crying. It was not difficult to see that he was holding back at least two emotions, rage and crying. All the time I was examining him, the baby was very cooperative. I explained the holding to the parents and demonstrated it, letting the father feel the rigid muscles. I told them the baby needed to let out rage and crying, and that if that were successfully accomplished the pressures and tensions would be relieved, as well as, I hoped, his symptoms. What I would have to relieve the muscle spasms would be unpleasant and even painful for the baby, but I felt it would be worthwhile. On their part, the parents would have to learn to accept the child's aggression. At that first session, I worked on the baby's sternocleidomas-toid muscles, softening them somewhat, then turning to the masseters. They were tremendously rigid and gave very little; I did not dare use very great pressure. Turning him over, I worked on the spinal muscles, releasing the right side fairly easily but making no impression on the left side, which was rock-like. However, the occipital muscles gave fairly easily and the eye segment was relieved; I hoped the epileptic seizures would not recur so long as the occipital area could be kept mobile and the eyes therefore free. Returning him to his back, after releasing the occiput, I manually opened his eyes wide and tried to open his mouth. Up to this point the baby had made little fuss and I had felt he understood I was trying to help. However, he resisted my attempt to open his mouth with all his might; whenever I got his jaws apart he kept his lips tightly closed. As well as possi-ble I held his mouth open and pressed up on the floor of the mouth, hoping he would breathe and cry more freely. He -squirmed and got very angry, occasionally letting out a cry. Continuing to hold his mouth open with one hand, I pressed on his chest with the other and succeeded in getting about every third breath through as a fairly open cry. I was also pleased to see the amount of rage he expressed, both in his face and in trying to fight me off. At that point I told him that would be all, both because I did not want him to overreach himself and because I did not want to subject him to too long and unpleasant experience. He jumped up and went to his father and, to my great pleasure, looked back at me with his eyes wide open and smiled. Then he went about the room exploring; both parents remarked that he seemed more relaxed and open. I told them that since we did not definitely know the diagnosis, we could not know what I would be able to accomplish. My impression, I explained, was that his severe holding could account for his symptoms; I cautioned them to think over whether or not they wanted me to work with him. I was only able to promise my best efforts, but if they did want me to treat him, I told them, one of the first things I would do would be to cut down the medication so that in three weeks he would be given none at all. I suggested that they call me in a week. When the father called, he reported that the baby had shown a great change - noticed not only by himself and his wife but also by their neighbors. The baby was using several new words, had started hitting the mother, and would pick up dirt and throw it at other children (peculiarly, only at blond children). He had never been able to express this sort of aggression before and the father seemed to understand its importance. At times, the baby had cried quite freely and had had a temper tantrum that did not lead into a convulsion. The parents had voluntarily cut the medication in half after I saw them, and wanted me to continue working with the baby. I agreed to see the baby once a week. The mother brought him alone and remained with him during each session. At the second session, I was wearing a patch over one infected eye, and when he saw it the baby became frightened and started to cry quite freely. I talked to him, explaining my patch, and he ran to me and again threw his arms around my neck. I held him for a while and then put him on the couch. Again I was amazed at how readily babies respond to therapy - his eyes remained open and he cried quite freely, only occasionally gasping and shaking his head as he breathed. The occipital muscles had stayed soft and his mouth was not so difficult to open as it had been before. After ten minutes I stopped work and turned him over to his mother. His left spinal muscles were still rigid. I told the mother to stop the Dilantin completely. At the third session, the mother reported the baby had been hitting her a great deal and hitting other children, too. She wanted to know what she should do if he picked on very little children; I suggested that she tell him not to hit them but to hit her instead. The baby had also had a temper tantrum during which he had cried without holding his breath or turning blue at all. He cried a lot, struggled, and got very angry at me during this session, finally showing sucking movements of the lips. When I gave him a bottle he took it eagerly and smiled at me. Turning him over to his mother again, I told her to stop all medication and was informed that it had been practically stopped because the child had refused to take any of it. When he arrived for the fourth session, he had been completely off medication for a week. There had been one temper tantrum - he had held his breath and turned blue but had not gone into a seizure. The aggressiveness and belligerence had been maintained; he had been hitting and fighting and even taking on three- and four-year-olds. He was really fighting for his life. The mother reported that he had not attacked any children smaller than himself when he had come in contact with them. But he was making a new demand on her. She used a stroller for long excursions as a usual thing, but now he was refusing the stroller and insisting she carry him. He wanted contact. He did not like this session at all; he kicked and bit vigorously, crying angrily the whole time. For the first time his spinal muscles relaxed well, however, and his jaws, throat, and chest were much better. Only rarely would his throat tighten and his bead shake as he breathed, and his color remained good. As soon as the session was over he quieted, smiled, and waved good-by when he left me. At the fifth session, the mother reported that he continued to fight with other children, but that over the weekend he had become very quiet and good, and that she had worried that he had regressed. They had gone to visit her father and stepmother over the weekend; she didn't like them and thought the baby disliked them too. The baby had indeed regressed; his eyes were dull, far away, held half closed, his occipital and spinal muscles were spastic, his throat was tight. When he breathed he turned blue and swallowed his tongue. After I loosened his spinal and occipital muscles, he opened his eyes wide and began to cry. I held his mouth open, pressing on the floor of his mouth until he could cry quite freely, then turned him over to his mother. Safe with her, he looked back with his eyes fully open and bright, smiling. After this session the father reported that the baby bit him once mildly and had drawn blood when he bit his mother. He had begun to cling to the mother, and the father had noticed she was unconsciously drawing away from the child, although consciously she was trying very hard to accept him and help him to express himself. The father also felt that he himself had recently been drawing away from the baby. Apparently, both parents liked the quiet baby and wanted him relieved of his seizures but not otherwise changed. I explained that their desires were not realizable. The baby had the convulsions because of the way he was, and could only grow away from the seizures as he grew away from his former behavior. Tactfully, I hinted at the fact that parents mold children to their own needs, which sometimes conflict with the child's needs. The father brought up the question of whether or not both parents should have therapy, and I told him I thought it would be wise, particularly for the mother, if any permanent good were to be done to the baby. During that week, the baby had had some very good days; there had been one temper tantrum, but no convulsion, and his cry had usually been free. At the sixth session, the baby cried hard, tried to get to his mother, and showed very marked arc du cercle. The spinal muscles were quite spastic but easily softened. The throat was tight and he swallowed his tongue, interfering with his breathing. This condition was alleviated by pressure in the submental region. The occipital muscles were also spastic and had to be relieved before the eyes lost their dullness. He kicked and fought, looked very angry, and cried angrily. When I let him go he ran quick]y to his mother and clung to her, but then looked back with wide and open eyes to smile and wave. Quite spontaneously, the mother brought up the question of therapy for herself. She was guilt-laden over her performance as a mother, and added that she was pregnant again and didn't want to do the same things to another baby. I told her I thought therapy was advisable and referred her to another orgonomist.    next page Page    1   2   3   of this article.