How Psychotherapy Helps Child Abuse Victims

Many times a child who has suffered from abuse may experience many negative symptoms of child abuse. Symptoms of child abuse include distorted self-images and a sense of worthlessness. Often, a child may develop the belief that they deserved what happened to them or that it was their fault that they were abused.

One of the common symptoms of child abuse is severe depression, which may lead to self-harm and possibly to suicide attempts. A child abuse survivor may develop extreme trust issues and find it very difficult to establish meaningful relationships with another individual. In order to cope with these detrimental effects of child abuse, a child abuse survivor may decide to see a therapist and undergo psychotherapy as a means of treating their symptoms of child abuse.

Psychotherapy is the type of therapy that most people envision when they think of therapy. It is often known as 'talk therapy' because it primarily involves discussing the things that you have experienced and how you feel about these experiences. Generally, psychotherapy will take place in a therapist’s office where an individual will attempt to talk through his/her problems with a trained counselor.

Psychotherapy will help a child abuse survivor to gain knowledge about what has happened to them, as well as to understand the symptoms of child abuse that they are experiencing. They will learn to understand their behavior, feelings and moods. A trained therapist will be able to listen to a child abuse survivor and to provide them with the ability to manage their anxiety and stress, as well as to cope with the other negative symptoms of child abuse. It will help the individual to learn that what has happened to them is not their fault and that it does not define who they are.

Often a child abuse survivor will develop skewed body images that lead to psychological disorders, such as eating disorders. Psychotherapy can help an individual to recreate a positive body image and to develop a sense of control over their lives. It will allow them to gain control over their emotions and their moods.

Oftentimes, psychotherapy can be used as a way to strengthen a child-parent relationship. If physical or emotional abuse has occurred within a home, both a parent and a child may choose to speak with a therapist. A therapist can help a parent to determine what caused the abuse to occur and address the trigger so that the abuse does not occur again. It will also help the parent to understand the extremely negative effect that their actions are having on their child. If a child and the child's parents are both able to talk about stresses and issues, then a psychotherapist may be able to provide them with tools to handle family problems in effective, non-aggressive ways.

With younger children, psychotherapy may also help to teach a parent how to effectively implement play therapy as a means of bridging any existing communication gap between themselves and their child.o help to teach a parent how to effectively implement play therapy as a means of bridging any existing communication gap between themselves and their child.

NEXT: What is the Shaken Baby Syndrome Laws