Dr. Stanley Goldstein - Author and Psychologist

That many American students, even those in high school, are poor readers has been evidenced by numerous studies though the solution is simple and inexpensive: having their parents read to them during toddlerhood.

The human mind has the capacity to induct the nature of reading if this task is presented properly, just as it does with the grammar of the language of the country into which a child is born. Thus a child born in France learns to speak French and a child born in Spain learns to speak Spanish. Not by learning all possible word combinations which it has been written would take a hundred-thousand years, but by inducting the nature of their nation's grammar.

In a similar manner a child can learn to read if, as a toddler, their mother or parenting figure holds them closely and reads to them while running their finger under the line. Using this technique most children will be reading simple books by the time they begin kindergarten. With no cost or the price of a book or trip to the local library. So why doesn't the government push this?

Not every national goal must be costly since improving the nation's mental health can be done relatively cheaply. Not quickly or one-hundred-per-cent but nothing beneficial ever is. A popular belief is that parents know how to parent though paid babysitters are required to gain instruction. Another assumption is that the happiest time of a couple's life is after the birth of their child though the greatest marital is after an unselected newborn with their own personality is brought home for integration into the already structured family unit. This stress is increased by the lack of understanding since babies are not born with instructions.
During the first three years of life, when a child's mother or mothering figure is of critical influence, the basic ego capacities governing control of thinking and behavior (the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy; the ability to modulate feelings; the ability to develop a "sense of self" (sense of who one is) are created. While never perfectly developed in anyone, serious weakness will cripple adult functioning and foster huge public expenditures. Consider the crimes we read of daily, and the silent suffering of many.

A possible solution would be the provision of a friendly visitor, who can be a nurse or paraprofessional trained in child development and child guidance, to bond with each new mother through weekly visits for the first months of a newborn's life.

Greater public education about child development would produce improvement too. All relatively cheaply when considering the cost of running jails and prisons and providing mental health facilities. Enough said.

The term "therapy" has become broadened, it now being considered to include art or music or walking or shopping or another relaxing activity. But "psychotherapy," the treatment of emotional ills, has historically referred to treatment inside a person's mind. The unconscious is very powerful and one must respect its power.

Along with this misconception are the following.
1. While the benefits of psychotherapy can be priceless, its outcome depends on the talent and education of the therapist and, like with the members of all trades, the outcome of their work will differ.
2. The sex of the therapist, or indeed any demographic, has nothing to do with the effectiveness of treatment, with the rare exception that if a person has been severely abused they may feel more comfortable with a therapist of the opposite sex.
3. A therapist is not your friend though there are friendship aspects to the interaction. It is a business relationship in which the therapist is being paid to improve the life of their patient.
4. While therapy is an enjoyable experience there will be pain when some experiences and issues are discussed.
5. At the first session the therapist will already know much about you deriving from their education and training.
6. A change of therapist should be considered when: the therapist frequently changes appointment time with their reason not being illness; the therapist uses professional jargon to explain human difficulties; the therapist deprecates the patient's ability to achieve an educational or vocational or personal goal; the therapist often seems bored or sleepy.
7. Progress in therapy is unrelated to the number of words spoken during a session though most patients benefit from a more active therapist.
Yet with all these cautions, psychotherapy remains the only way to repair the painful effects of destructive developmental experiences.