Building a Safepath: from Confusion to Clarity: Facilitator’s Guide

By SafePath Children's Advocacy Center

Building a SafePath..."From Confusion to Clarity" Facilitator’s Guide was written as a resource for facilitators of psycho-educational groups for parents and caregivers of children who have been sexually abused. We recommend that the Facilitator’s Guide be used by mental health professionals who have training in the dynamics of sexual abuse, grief work, and group dynamics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796061192

SafePath Children's Advocacy Center

SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children who have been abused. SafePath’s mission is to reduce the trauma to children and their families by offering a comprehensive, professional, and child-friendly approach to the allegations of child abuse. SafePath ensures a less traumatic, child-focused approach to child abuse cases by bringing together professionals from law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, therapists, healthcare professions, DFACS, and other agencies, to all work together as a collaborative team.

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Copyright © 2019 by SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center. 803286

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

ISBN:    Softcover             978-1-7960-6120-8

              Hardcover           978-1-7960-6121-5

              EBook                  978-1-7960-6119-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019914801

Rev. date: 10/30/2019

Contents

Introduction

Who Should Use This Book

How to Use This Book

Screening of Group Members

1:      Child Sexual Abuse

What Is Child Sexual Abuse:

The Scope of the Problem:

Myths and Facts:

2:      Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children

Indicators That a Child May Have Been Sexually Abused

Common Feelings Shared by Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused

Possible Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse

What Mitigates the Traumatic Effects of Sexual Abuse

3:      Responding to Your Child

What to Do If Your Child Has Been Sexually Abused

What to Say and What Not to Say

Talking to Your Child

Helping Your Child Deal with Their Feelings

4:      Stress and Coping

What Is Stress?

Common Signs and Symptoms

Tools for Self-Care

Reducing Stress

Relaxation Techniques

5:      Grief

Grief: What Is It?

Tasks of Grief

Stages of Grief:

6:      Sexual Offenders

Who Are the Offenders?

Facts about Offenders

Types of Offenders

Characteristics of Sex Offenders

The Grooming Process

Behaviors to Be Concerned About

7:      Negotiating the Criminal and Legal Process

Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights

Steps in the Criminal Justice Process

Prosecution Process

Preparing Children for Court

8:      Effective Parenting Skills When Your Child Has Experienced Sexual Abuse

Three Common Parenting Styles

Punishment versus Discipline

Unintended Effects of Physical Punishment

Methods commonly used by adults to get children to cooperate.

Engaging Cooperation

Effective Discipline

9:      Healthy Sexuality

Why it is important to talk with your child about sex

How do I talk to my child about sex?

The Four-Point plan

Normal Sexual Behavior in Children

When Is Sexual Behavior in Children a Problem?

How to Handle a Child’s Sexual Behavior Problems

10:    Safety and Protection for Your Child

Raising a Nonvictim Child

Awareness

Minimize Opportunity for Offenders

Choosing Childcare

Internet Safety

Teach your child safety skills

Introduction

Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity has been an evolution over many years of working with child victims of sexual abuse and their parents and loved ones. At SafePath, we believe that a parent’s support is vital to a child’s recovery from the trauma of sexual abuse. In fact, the primary caregiver is seen as essential in facilitating the child’s recovery (Sheeringa & Zeanah, 2001), and children whose parents or caregivers are supportive heal more quickly from the abuse (Paredes, Leifer, & Kilbane, 2001; Lovett, 2004). More than anything, children need the love and support of those who have the greatest influence and impact in their lives. With this in mind, Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity was written. The book is intended for educational and informational purposes only.

Who Should Use This Book

Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity Facilitator’s Guide was written as a resource for facilitators of psychoeducational groups for parents and caregivers of children who have been sexually abused. We recommend that the Facilitator’s Guide be used by mental health professionals who have training in the dynamics of sexual abuse, grief work, and group dynamics.

How to Use This Book

Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity Facilitator’s Guide comes with a PowerPoint presentation that may be used during group sessions. The PowerPoint presentation is included with the Facilitator’s Guide. The Facilitator’s Guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity Caregiver Handbook. The Caregiver Handbook may be purchased separately. Below is a description of the program materials and a key for the use of the Facilitator’s Guide.

Program Materials

Facilitator’s Guide

The Facilitator’s Guide contains information on a wide range of topics that are pertinent to adults caring for a child who has experienced sexual abuse. The Facilitator’s Guide includes step-by-step instructions to enable the group to be conducted with just a little preparation.

PowerPoint Presentation

A series of PowerPoint slides, which correspond to the text of the Facilitator’s Guide, can be accessed at http://safepath.org/confusion-to-clarity/ using the password code 1995. Symbols are used within the Facilitator’s Guide to indicate at what point to display each of the slides.

Caregiver Handbook

The Caregiver Handbook contains information that corresponds to the topics presented in the Facilitator’s Guide. The Caregiver Handbook can also be used alone and provides a wealth of information for adults who care for a child who has experienced sexual abuse.

Key for Using the Facilitator’s Guide

The following symbols are used throughout the Facilitator’s Guide to enable the group facilitator to quickly identify when to display PowerPoint slides, when to ask questions or initiate an activity, and to help group members find material in the Caregiver Handbook.

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Indicates a question you might want to direct to the group.

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Indicates when a particular slide in the PowerPoint presentation should be displayed.

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Indicates the particular page number in the Caregiver Handbook on which information can be found. The group facilitator may want to reference this information for group members.

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Indicates an activity you may want to initiate with group members.

Screening of Group Members

The purpose of screening group members is to select members who are a good fit for a particular group and determine whether potential group members will benefit from a particular group. Screening group members may be conducted through a pre-group interview or written questionnaire. In whatever form the group facilitator chooses to conduct the screening, a few important issues should be taken into consideration, given that Building a SafePath: From Confusion to Clarity targets adults who care for a child who has experienced sexual abuse. An initial consideration should be that a group member be a caregiver of a child who has experienced sexual abuse. Another critical issue is determining whether the abuse in question has been reported to the appropriate authorities. If the abuse of a group member’s child has not been reported either to child protective services or law enforcement, the facilitator is required to report the abuse. Therefore, it is important to talk about confidentiality and the limits of confidentiality from the beginning. Group facilitators should also consider the relationships between potential group members. For example, consider the question of allowing two caregivers of the same child to attend a group together. It may be more appropriate and helpful to have two caregivers with conflicting views (for example divorced parents) attend separate groups. In addition, a basic consideration should be potential group members’ readiness for group. For example, parents and caregivers in acute crisis may benefit more from individual therapy prior to participating in a group process. Screening of group members should take all these issues into consideration, as well as other basic issues common to participation in a group process in general.

Group Session 1:

Child Sexual Abuse

Objectives for Session 1

• Introductions

• Overview of group topics and format

• Establish