Suffer the Children
The Case against Labeling and Medicating and an Effective Alternative
18 March 2011
Description
A persuasive rejection of mainstream child psychiatry that guides parents to understand their child's behavioral problems without stigmatizing diagnoses.
With more than four million American children diagnosed with ADHD and other psychiatric disorders, taking a child to a psychiatrist is as common as taking them to soccer practice. But, disturbingly, a great number of children experience dangerous emotional and physical side effects from psychotropic medications. Where can parents who are eager to avoid shaming labels and drugs turn when their child exhibits disturbing behavior? Suffer the Children presents a much-needed alternative: child-focused family therapy. A family therapist for over twenty years, Marilyn Wedge shares the stories of her patients. Wedge presents creative strategies that flow from viewing children's symptoms not as biologically determined "disorders" but as responses to relationships in their lives that can be altered with the help of a therapist.
Instructive, illuminating, and uplifting, Suffer the Children radically reframes how we as parents, as health professionals, and as a society can respond to problems of childhood in a considerate and respectful fashion.
Reviews
"Interweaving a range of fascinating case studies, Wedge proves that the road to a child's healing can often be successfully navigated without the use of labels and potentially harmful meds." — Publishers Weekly
Also By: Marilyn Wedge 
Pills Are Not for Preschoolers: A Drug-Free Approach for Troubled Kids
Paperback, 2012
“[Wedge’s] encouragement to look anew at the ‘problems’ our children have . . . is valuable and expert advice.”—Booklist
In the Therapist's Mirror: Reality in the Making
Hardback, 1997
Wedge's central argument, presented clearly and illustrated in engaging cases, is that all experience, even the experience of one's own self, is a construction of signs. Symbolic forms such as...
