HOW WE GOT STARTED
by Agi Plenk, Ph.D., Founder of The Children's Center
My training started in my high school years when I volunteered in a day care center in Vienna, Austria where I grew up. My supervisor was Anna Freud, who, as a young teacher of young children, shared ideas and helped us to overcome traditional prejudices, like children “should be seen and not heard,” being polite is most important, or saying “I’m sorry,” even if you aren’t. Some of us took to it and found the changes in children encouraging – and built her ideas into our repertory for working with young children with adjustment problems.
When my husband and I came to this country in 1938, we did not look for the proverbial gold on the street but got professional degrees, gaining experience in our fields, finding mentors and learning the ways of a different culture, learning how different people can be, but also how alike we all seem to be. My working at many jobs quickly helped me to experience groups of people with different cultures than my own and I enjoyed becoming “Americanized.”
Through a series of lucky breaks, we came to Utah in 1947, started our family, and began our professional careers, my husband as a physician, myself as a psychologist. A nursery school I started in the Sunday school rooms of a community church was the beginning of The Children’s Center. It grew into a complex agency that also includes research, teaching in conjunction with the University of Utah and BYU in a variety of related fields. In 1963, the preschool moved from the church into its own building. In 1971, TCC moved to a building which was custom designed, on land leased to us by the U. By 1975, we had added another treatment center, located in Kearns in a building we totally redesigned for our purposes. In the meantime, we also utilized an existing building as a residential center for children who needed intensive treatment on a 24-hour basis.
A dedicated and committed staff helped develop the treatment model we are still using based on theories and experiences in our difficult but highly rewarding work. To motivate active children as well as adults to make changes demands giving staff members creative and open leadership. I’ve been fortunate in working in such environments at the U, in private practice, by teaching and learning continuously. We will be trying to share our experiences with you, our audience, ready to help families enjoy their children and their own relationships.
PARENTING ARTICLES BY AGI PLENK
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