Alternative Psychotherapies by Mercer Jean

Author:Mercer, Jean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
Published: 2012-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

Martha Welch and “Holding Time”

While Zaslow’s perspective was developing its following in Evergreen, a similar viewpoint was being put forward by the New York psychiatrist Martha Welch. Welch, who began in the late 1970s to claim that physical contact could cure autistic children, recommended that all parents use the methods described in her book Holding Time (1989). Daily face-to-face restraint sessions were suggested; for older children, these entailed the mother lying prone on top of the supine child. Mother and child were expected to go through a full range of emotional expression during these sessions, from anger and hate to love. The child was expected to resist strongly, but to end the session in a relaxed, cuddly mood.

Welch’s method and her suggestions for treatment of autism received a considerable boost when she met Elisabeth Tinbergen, a special education teacher and the wife of the Nobel Laureate Nikolaas Tinbergen. Niko Tinbergen was a leader in ethological studies and theory and thus took much interest in behavior patterns that appeared to be associated with experiences during critical periods of development. He was enthusiastic about the idea that autism might result from experiences, or lack thereof, during the period when attachment ordinarily occurs—as Welch and others argued. The Tinbergens’ 1983 book Autistic Children—New Hope for a Cure described and praised Welch’s methods at length, while still conceding that there was no evidentiary basis supporting the techniques. Welch provided a substantial appendix for the book, discussing her approach and giving a photographic record. According to Welch’s curriculum vitae, she later visited Evergreen, Colorado, Foster Cline’s base of operations, and gave a presentation on her work, as well as speaking at a number of conventional professional meetings. (See chapter 7 for further discussion of Welch’s theory and practice.)

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