Working with children who've been sexually abused

In this webinar, Dr Sinason talks about working with children who have experienced incest, which she defines as ‘the diminishing of a child through toxic violation and hurt, by an adult who is supposed to be caring for them.’Through moving case material, Dr Sinason addresses the agonising inner conflicts of those who have suffered in this way. She addresses the central dilemma: how can they rise up from ‘the tangled roots’ when they love the person who is also hurting/raping them? It is easy for professionals who work with these children to focus on the cruelty and the betrayal, with many believing they are helping ‘rescue’ this child from a ‘bad offender’. In so doing they so often unwittingly silence and shame the child who loves his or her abuser, an extremely common occurrence. Dr Sinason will discuss how too many children go through a Section 47 enquiry with no one ever being curious as to what they feel towards the person who hurt them or helping them to process the ambivalence. Dr Sinason also addresses a phenomenon she has seen so many times in her work: ‘The child understands the vulnerability and splits in the toxic parent more than most of the professionals involved. The child is the professor of the disturbance in the family.’ Delegates will also learn about Fairbairn’s (psychoanalyst) concept of the ‘moral defence’, namely, ‘This is only happening to me because I am bad.’ Dr Sinason will address what to do/say when children take the burden of their parent’s abuse onto themselves – to allow a child to survive and to keep their love for their parent alive.