Though the abused children get counselling, it is also a challenge for psychologists to build a positive environment for them.
“This can take a significant amount of time because they have experienced substantial abuse. Their basic ability to trust adults around them gets compromised and as a result, a lot of patience is required, and therapists typically tend to go extremely slow,” she said.
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“In working with the child in such situations, the focus immediately is not on trying to elicit what the nature of the abuse was or how it has impacted the child, but to try and build a rapport by helping the child feel that they can trust this person who is now around them and is helping them cope with their situation,” said Dr. Chhibber.
“It’s only post-building of the relationship and the creation of a rapport that some instances can be inquired about, and the child is not pushed to disclose or share information beyond what they’re comfortable with,” she added.
“A lot of people are not able to fight abuse or undergo cycles of abuse because they do not know what they have done to deserve the abuse. Thus, making them aware about what all can be, implications of abuse, handling and handing over the tools to empower them, helping them being expressive in voicing their pain is the best way to break the cycle of cyclical abuse,” said Dr. Sukul.
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Psychologists said that the parents of the victim also need to put in efforts to bring the child out of the horror she or he had faced.
“Sometimes families can become insensitive, can end up questioning a lot or because of their own emotional experiences, may not recognize that the child needs extensive support,” said Dr. Chhibber.
“The child may require a lot of reassurance, especially initially, and that is something that the families need to do. Making statements like it is all ‘OK’, everything is fine or saying that you know, nothing bad has happened, basically demeaning the child’s experience or rejecting what they may have gone through would not be helpful,” she added.
Source: IANS
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