child abuse issues

My first step of healing from child abuse

My “healing from child abuse” journey began with the movie Mommie Dearest. I had heard all the talk about it being about child abuse and like many others, I was curious. As I left the theater, I remember thinking “That’s child abuse? That’s nothing.” But later that night, as I lay in bed, I was left with the question; “If that’s child abuse, what happened to me?” That question was the first step into this healing journey.

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Forgiveness

Healing from child abuse is a long process which involves specific stages and if you so choose, ends with forgiveness. The first stage is acknowledgment. Despite being severely beaten, I did not realize what happened to me was abuse for two reasons. First, my mind blocked out the worse parts. Second, I did not have a point of reference, so what I experienced was normal to me.

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Preventing and Reporting Child Abuse

I just read a story about child abuse titled “In child abuse cases, do what’s best for the child, experts say.“

What disturbed me was this paragraph: “Four days before the baby’s death, 21-year-old Patrick A. Naquin of Houma, was arrested after he allegedly fractured the skull of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son in a fit of rage. The child is expected to recover. Naquin is charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.”

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Finally a Doctor’s Specialty in Child Abuse

The American Medical News reports that after nine years, the American Medical Board of Pediatrics is FINALLY offering a specialty in the treatment of child abuse. We as a society owe a debt to the late pediatrician and educator, Dr. Ray Helfer, who devoted his life to the developing methods of detecting child abuse, treating and preventing it. Others have kept Dr. Helfer’s spirit and work alive on as The Helfer Society.

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How do we spot light the issue of child abuse without child abuse stories?

Outside of individual cases, the subject of child abuse doesn’t seem to make news often. How do we keep the conversation on the subject of child abuse, while not diving into individual child abuse stories that feature blow by blow accounts or pictures of beaten dead babies that trigger and horrify us?

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