When Your Child Has Been Molested

This is the thoroughly revised and updated edition of the best-selling guide for families of children who have been molested. First published in 1988, this new edition includes current research and information on the nature and effects of molestation on boys and girls, as well as proven techniques for therapy, healing, and recovery. Using everyday language, the authors provide information, comfort, and advice on how to put the pieces back together again after a child has been sexually molested.

Reality Checks ix

Introduction xi

1. Learning Your Child Has Been Molested 1

2. Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Investigation and Prosecution Stages 17

3. Supporting Your Child After His Disclosure 27

4. Physical and Emotional Signs of Child and Youth Sexual Abuse 45

5. Your Professional Support Team 59

6. The Formal/Forensic Interview: Helping Investigators Work Effectively with Your Child 65

7. The Judicial Process: Why It Takes a While 77

8. Understanding Grief Stages and Secondary Traumatic Stress 87

9. Working with a Counselor 103

10. Helping Your Child Recover 115

11. The Impact on Family Members 129

12. Strengthening Family Communication 135

13. Dealing with Extended Family and Others 145

14. When You or Your Child Must Appear in Court 153

15. When the Sexual Abuse Is Incest 165

16. You Know Your Family Is Getting Better When 179

Glossary 189

Additional Information 197

Resources 203

About the Authors 207

Index 209

The Authors

Kathryn Brohl, M.A., is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has worked in the field of child welfare for more than thirty years. She is the author and coeditor of numerous books and trains child welfare advocates on trauma.

Joyce Case Potter has twenty years' experience as a freelance writer and is also active in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

WHEN YOUR CHILD HAS BEEN MOLESTED

This is the thoroughly revised and updated edition of the best-selling guide for families of children who have been molested. First published in 1988, this new edition includes current research and information on the nature and effects of molestation on boys and girls, as well as proven techniques for therapy, healing, and recovery. Using everyday language, the authors provide information, comfort, and advice on how to put the pieces back together again after a child has been sexually molested.

"This book is an excellent discovery for parents, child welfare professionals, trauma team members, mental health professionals providing counseling and therapy, and all of those who would seek to help parents of victims and the child victims of sexual abuse." —Carol A. Brown, retired executive director, Richland County Children's Services, Mansfield, Ohio

"Sexual abuse of a child frequently paralyzes families due to their huge sense of violation and betrayal—but [the book has] a remedy that works! Through [its] warmth and knowledge [it] both alleviates guilt and empowers parents to take constructive action by arming them with clear information and strategies that will both support their child and themselves." —Patricia A. O'Gorman, psychologist, clinical director of Berkshire Farm and Services for Youth, and coauthor, The Lowdown on Families Who Get High

"Must reading for parents who discover—or fear—that their child has been sexually molested. [The book's] expert advice helps families deal with the problem effectively and heal all affected by it." —Sue Rusche, chairman, president, and CEO, National Families in Action, and coauthor, False Messengers