Caring for children who have been sexually abused is demanding and challenging and foster caregivers and adoptive parents cannot be left to manage this alone. This course will enable agencies to establish effective partnerships with caregivers, providing them with information they can understand and use and arranging for practical parenting support that directly relates to the needs of these children.
This skills development training programme has been developed for caregivers who have children in placement who have been sexually abused. It originates from the work of Gerrilyn Smith, a clinical psychologist, trainer and consultant in child protection, and has been developed by her and others at BAAF. The book contains:
General guidance for trainers and workers in running courses for caregivers about child sexual abuse;
A skills development course for foster caregivers and adopters who are currently caring for a child who has been sexually abused, based on the premise that children can be helped to recover from their experiences of abuse in a family environment where their caregivers are actively engaged with them in assisting their recovery;
Handouts, notes for trainers, overheads for display and useful reading material.
The training programme comprises six sessions:
Creating a safe place for your child
Recognising child sexual abuse
Understanding the impact of sexual abuse
How we can help children who have been sexually abused (two sessions)
The question of therapy and building resilience (including new material about the impact of trauma on children who have been sexually abused).
The DVD
The programme is also accompanied by a DVD. In the first part, Gerrilyn Smith discusses some of the key issues central to running a course of this kind and some sections can be used in the work with carers - preparation issues; training processes; ethnicity, gender and identity; homework tasks; the curriculum - acquiring the skills; and triggers. Part two features Kate Cairns in conversation with John Simmonds and this section covers issues such including what is involved in “re-parenting children”; the impact of trauma; sexualised behaviour - understanding the child’s messages; therapeutic parenting; respecting children and promoting resilience.
