In this practical handbook for families and churches, Dr. R. Timothy Kearney shows how the healing touch of God can come, frequently through God's people, to children who have experienced sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse of children and adolescents is a gross violation of their rights and a global public health problem. It adversely affects the health of children and adolescents. Health care providers are in a unique position to provide an empathetic response to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused. Such a response can go a long way in helping survivors recover from the trauma of sexual abuse. WHO has published new clinical guidelines Responding to Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused aimed at helping front-line health workers, primarily from low resource settings, in providing evidence-based, quality, trauma-informed care to survivors. The guidelines emphasize the importance of promoting safety, offering choices and respecting the wishes and autonomy of children and adolescents. They cover recommendations for post-rape care and mental health; and approaches to minimizing distress in the process of taking medical history, conducting examination and documenting findings.

`This book is a practical and supportive guide for the professionals facing this traumatic subject. [It] is easily readable' - Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health `Therapeutic Work With Sexually Abused Children locates the practice experience of the authors within a rigorous theoretical framework and is a readable and useable guide to the complexities of helping children and adolescents who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse' - Youth & Policy `It is refreshing to find child therapists ready to engage with sexually abused children by incorporating trauma theory and research, addressing child protection and seeing themselves as part of a team that includes the carers. The authors provide an overview of phases of treatment, theoretical considerations and essential skills. They emphasize the importance of relationship and explore its impact on the therapist. Their approach is creative and child-centered. Case vignettes, poems and exercises promote empathy with the child's perspective. There is a useful chapter on cultural issues and the needs of children in alternative care... this is an excellent primer for the child's helping network' - Community Care `This is an excellent book for workers seeking to respond more effectively to child victims of abuse' - David Pearson, Caring Magazine Therapeutic Work with Sexually Abused Children is a creative and practical guide for professionals working directly with those who have suffered sexual abuse and for their carers. The trauma of sexual abuse experienced in childhood can be severe and enduring. Therapeutic support is offered to help both the child and the family cope with psychological or emotional difficulties both currently and in later life. Therapists must be able to respond effectively to the child victim in a sensitive and timely way which prioritizes the needs of each child. Drawing on their experience as practitioners, the authors explore the reactions which children commonly experience following abuse and examine the tasks of the therapist in responding to them. This book explores the counselling of children who have been abused rather than adult survivors of child abuse. The book will benefit from the combined experiences of one US author and one UK author.

Treating the Aftermath of Sexual Abuse is a handbook for working with children in care who have been sexually abused. The authors review the impact of sexual abuse on a child's physical and emotional development and describe the effect of abuse on basic life experiences. What distinguishes the authors' approach is the importance they place on the child's story. This handbook can guide caregivers and other professionals as they learn to understand children's stories by the signs and signals that they give through their behavior.

First published in 1988. Child sexual abuse involves the exploitation of a child for the sexual gratification of an adult. A narrower form of child sexual abuse is incest, which refers to the sexual exploitation of the child by another family member. This book provides us a comprehensive and comprehensible current account of what is known and what is not known on the subject of child sexual abuse. Drs. Schetky and Green, both highly skilled and talented child psychiatrists, have a wealth of information and experience that they share in an admirably straightforward and sensible way. They pull no punches, providing the available data, and where no adequate scientific data are available, they draw on their considerable practical knowledge. Each problem area is faced directly and forthrightly, making this book the single-most useful volume for all health care and legal professionals who work with sexually abused children and their families.

`This book is a practical and supportive guide for the professionals facing this traumatic subject. [It] is easily readable′ - Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health `Therapeutic Work With Sexually Abused Children locates the practice experience of the authors within a rigorous theoretical framework and is a readable and useable guide to the complexities of helping children and adolescents who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse′ - Youth & Policy `It is refreshing to find child therapists ready to engage with sexually abused children by incorporating trauma theory and research, addressing child protection and seeing themselves as part of a team that includes the carers. The authors provide an overview of phases of treatment, theoretical considerations and essential skills. They emphasize the importance of relationship and explore its impact on the therapist. Their approach is creative and child-centered. Case vignettes, poems and exercises promote empathy with the child′s perspective. There is a useful chapter on cultural issues and the needs of children in alternative care... this is an excellent primer for the child′s helping network′ - Community Care `This is an excellent book for workers seeking to respond more effectively to child victims of abuse′ - David Pearson, Caring Magazine Therapeutic Work with Sexually Abused Children is a creative and practical guide for professionals working directly with those who have suffered sexual abuse and for their carers. The trauma of sexual abuse experienced in childhood can be severe and enduring. Therapeutic support is offered to help both the child and the family cope with psychological or emotional difficulties both currently and in later life. Therapists must be able to respond effectively to the child victim in a sensitive and timely way which prioritizes the needs of each child. Drawing on their experience as practitioners, the authors explore the reactions which children commonly experience following abuse and examine the tasks of the therapist in responding to them. This book explores the counselling of children who have been abused rather than adult survivors of child abuse. The book will benefit from the combined experiences of one US author and one UK author.