Sexual Abuse Prevention

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There are many reasons why a parent may want to focus on sexual abuse prevention:

• Maybe your child has been abused in the past and you want to learn ways you may be able to protect them from being hurt again in the future

• Maybe someone you know or love was recently abused and you want to reduce the risk of it happening to your child

• Maybe your child is approaching the same age that you were when you were abused and you are having a really difficult time managing the emotions and fear coming up for you

• Maybe you just want to be proactive in protecting your kids

 

Whatever your reason is, we can help. We have therapists on staff that can talk with you about the ways you can keep your kids safe and help you work through any uncomfortable feelings you may have surrounding body safety conversations. We may also be able to integrate body safety and empowerment into your child's treatment if they are working with one of our therapists.

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Founder + Psychotherapist, Terra Ginther, has been trained in Darkness To Light (D2L), a child sexual abuse prevention program created to educate adults in these five vital areas of prevention: 1) Understanding sexual abuse and its prevalence, 2) Ways to minimize the opportunity of abuse happening, 3) How to talk about abuse and safety with our kiddos as well as with others, 4) Recognizing the signs of sexual abuse, and 5) How to react responsibly if abuse is suspected or disclosed. The D2L program is typically taught in a group setting, but can also be beneficial integrated into discussion with parents when they share worries or discomfort in discussing body safety with their kiddos. We can help you find an active D2L facilitator near you if you are interested in taking the class.

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Parent Education

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As we all know, there are lots of books out there educating us and giving us insight into raising a child, but there is no real handbook for parenting. This means that we're all just doing our best to make sure our kids are healthy, happy, and ready to leave the nest when it is time for them to fly. You don't have to know everything and you definitely don't have to be perfect. It is okay to feel frustrated and it is understandable if you struggle with your kid's behavior at times. As much as we love our kids, parenting isn't always a walk in the park! Let's talk about it! Let's talk about childhood development, setting boundaries and limits, and age-appropriate discipline! Most importantly, let's talk about how you are taking care of yourself and how you are recharging or refilling your "love tank" so you can feel good and remain in control when times get tough.

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We have therapists on staff trained in Nurturing Parenting, a trauma-informed program designed to build nurturing parenting skills as an alternative to abusive or neglectful parenting practices. While we don't facilitate Nurturing Parenting classes, our therapists enjoy integrating these ideas and principles into the work we do with parents when needed. 

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