As a parent, there are few things more distressing than the discovery that your precious child has been sexually assaulted. In Ireland, the official response is lacking in the extreme. Bewildered parents soon realise that accessing services – medical, psychological, and legal – is difficult. It’s hard to know where to go to try to access help, and most places (CARI, CAMHS etc.) have long waiting lists. Many services cannot be accessed until, and unless, your child’s account of what has happened to them is deemed “founded” by a social worker who has no special training in how to identify child victims of sexual violence. Even if your child is believed, there is a lack of support for parents. No peer support is available at all.
This is where Trauma Recovery comes in.
I offer information, support, and advice to parents, whose children have been sexually assaulted. I also run therapeutic support groups for these parents.
If you would like to know more, please contact me.
(I have chosen to represent this programme with the red flower of the weeping willow tree. The weeping willow is associated with grief and mourning, but it also symbolises thee endurance of love and family.)