When your child has had experiences of sexual trauma or inappropriate touch, you may be looking for a specialist. The team of child therapists for sexual trauma at Wisdom Within Counseling specialize in play therapy. Play therapy help children talk about sexual trauma as well as sexual abuse. Using art, yoga, musical instruments, and nature therapies, children can recover from sexual abuse. These creative therapies offer children a language beyond words to tell her story. When your child has experienced sexual assault or unwanted touch of some kind, they may be experiencing a variety of anxiety symptoms. Wisdom Within Counseling works with children as young as three or four years old. As well, Wisdom Within Counseling specializes in child therapy for sexual trauma for children of all ages. We help adolescents and teenagers who have experiences of sexual abuse as well.
Wisdom Within specializes in sexual abuse counseling for children using play therapies, art, yoga, and music therapies.
Can child therapy for sexual trauma help my child cope with anxiety?
Your child may have somatic symptoms, such as stomach pain, back pain, headaches, and trouble sleeping are common. Child therapy for sexual trauma can help you child overcome somatic issues. For instance, your child may even have GI issues with their bowel movements. It’s very normal for young children with a history of sexual abuse to experience gastrointestinal issues. A child with a history of sexual assault may complain of belly pain.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help you child talk about their perpetrator
Children with a history of sexual abuse may have a perpatrator who is someone that is close to them. Or, a child, may experience sexual abuse from a stranger. More often than not, someone trustworty hurts a child and is sexually abusive.
A father, mother, neighbor, friend, and her uncle, grandparent, coach, or teacher may have sexually abused your child. Even another child, one year older, may have sexually abused your child.
If you child sleeps over their friend’s house, they may become a victim of sexual trauma. Just because you, as a parent, have a good relationship with someone, doesn’t mean they are trustworthy. Any time your child is alone with someone, they can may face sexual abuse.
What are forms of sexual trauma?
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help your child cope with all forms of sexual trauma.
Non-contact sexual abuse can be feeling like a sexual object growing up. Relatives may make sexual comments about your child’s body, causing them to feel uncomfortable. Anyone who comments about your child’s developing body can cause them to feel uncomfortable. Sexual trauma is not always physical in nature.
Non-contact sexual abuse can include exposure to pornography at a young age. Parents can reflect on their own upbringing and sexual shame in counseling too. Maybe, there are feelings of shame, guilt, fear, or anxiety due to not feeling sexually normal growing up, yourself. As well, non-contact sexual abuse can include watching parents having sex.
There are also forms of non-contact sexual abuse, such as an adult taking a naked photo of your child. This is traumatic.
Online sexual predators can groom children and cause sexual trauma
There is a grooming process with online sexual predators. Online sexual predators can cause non-contact sexual abuse. A child may meet an online sexual predator in a chat room. Then, this older person sweet talks your child and gives them attention. A online sexual predator may give your child instructions to send them naked photos. As well, online sexual predators can lead to a need for child therapy for sexual trauma symptoms. An online sexual predator may ask your child or adolescent for money as well as naked, sexual photos. Parents may be unaware of the dangers of online sexual predators. Online sexual predators can cause your child to become hyper sexual in their behaviors. A child may feel a bond with an online sexual predator, and keep the relationship a secret for years.
If your child is a teenager, they may have shared naked photos of themselves with someone that they trust like a boyfriend or a girlfriend. And, their boyfriend or girlfriend shared their naked photos around their high school. This is a form of non-contact sexual trauma.
Physical and sexual trauma impacts children
Additionally, a trusted adult in your child’s life may be touching them in appropriately while bathing them. While your child is in the shower, or in the bath, another child or adult may come into the bathroom. That trusted adult may expose their genitals to your child. Or, an older child or adult may ask your child to touch their genitals. That adult or child may also touch your child inappropriately.
As well, children may receive unwanted touch while an adult is shampooing or conditioning their hair. With soap in their eyes, they are in a vulnerable state. An adult might try to tell your child that they should keep touch a secret. As well, a perpetrator may tell your child it is okay for them to touch them on their private parts. Your child may be too touchy feely with other children and adults.
Your child may experience sexual abuse when they are at a relative’s house during bathing and showering times. Children are in a vulnerable state when they are going to the bathroom or naked. An adult who enters a bathroom while your child is peeing or taking a bowel movement can make your child feel very uncomfortable.
When your child tells you that they feel uncomfortable being around a certain adult, this may be a sign that they have a history of sexual abuse. Your child may not know the words, “sexual abuse.” Sexual abuse counseling for children is a specialty at Wisdom Within Counseling.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling for healing after sexual trauma and abuse.
How do you know when your child needs child therapy for sexual trauma and sexual abuse?
As a parent, you might not be able to put your finger on while your child is acting more anxious. Your child might be telling you that they don’t want to be around this caretaker, their friend, other parent, uncle, or even the coach that is actually abusing them. Concerning behaviors are a sign that your child would benefit from child therapy for sexual trauma at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Sadly, your child may not have the words to talk about sexual abuse. Or, you child may not even understand what sexual abuse is. As a parent, you might be noticing using your intuition, that something is wrong. At Wisdom Within Counseling, child therapy for sexual trauma is one of our specialities. Play therapy, art, yoga, music, and natures therapies help children cope with trauma symptoms.
The first step after you find out your child has been abused is to talk to your child about body boundaries.
Talking with your child about body boundaries can help them understand that it is not okay for someone to touch. Your child can learn what it means to give permission. As well, talking with your child about their body and boundaries can help them identify red flags. Your child can learn to know when someone violates their body boundaries. As well, your child can learn to listen to their instincts. From child therapy for sexual trauma, you child can tune into their feelings of being uncomfortable. So, talking with your child about body boundaries can be very helpful.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, child therapy for sexual trauma supports positive coping strategies
When a child has experienced sexual abuse or unwanted touch, it can impact them for the rest of their life. Getting your child started and play therapy and child counseling for trauma sooner than later is key. Being in child therapy for sexual trauma will help them gain positive coping strategies. Positive coping strategies can help your child reduce anxiety and self regulate. Your child may be having anxiety attacks and emotional meltdowns. As a result of unwanted, touch and inappropriate sexual abuse, your child may have anxiety, worry, trouble, sleeping, and low self-esteem.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help you, as a parent, let go of guilt
When your child is experiencing sexual abuse, you may suffer from guilt as a parent. This is very normal. You may be a survivor of sexual trauma, rape, or molestation yourself. Therapy for sexual trauma at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you release your feelings. Parts of you may feel regret or be upset. As a parent, you may regret not being there to protect your child. Also, you may feel upset not being able to prevent unwanted touch and sexual trauma from happening to your child. Counseling with a trauma therapist can help you release guilt.
As a parent, you may also suffer from anger, frustration, grief, and even rage towards the person who has sexually abused your child.
Your child’s therapist can help you talk with your child about sexual abuse. As well, you can take steps to get them to medical attention they need. It is normal to feel guilty as a parent if you have just learned that your child has been sexually abused.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual abuse coping tools.
What are signs and symptoms of sexual childhood sexual abuse and sexual trauma?
Some signs that your child has been sexually abused are as follows. A child who has experiences of sexual abuse, incest, rape, or unwanted touch, may be rubbing their genitals. After sexual abuse, your child may be constantly touching their genital area. They may also try to touch their sibling’s genitals in an inappropriate way. As well, your child may be masturbating at a young age after being sexually abused.
To note, your child may suffer from urinary tract infections or suffer from a sexually transmitted infection or disease. There may be an STI that needs medical treatment.
Due to sexual abuse, you may see unexplained, bleeding, or bruising on your child’s body. This may be a result from them being restrained or hurt during molestation or sexual abuse.
Additionally, your child may have experienced sexual abuse if they have a great deal of knowledge about sexual topics. Your young child may come home talking about giving a blow job, oral sex, or penetration. As well, after sexual abuse in childhood, you child may be asking about sexual activities that are not appropriate for their age.
A common sign that your child has been sexually abused is that they are now keeping secrets and lying. Not all lying behaviors are a direct correlation with sexual abuse. However, children who are sexually abused are often told by their perpetrator to keep sexual abuse a secret. A child becomes bonded with their abuser through secret keeping. As well, a child may feel like they have to protect their perpetrator, even if they feel uncomfortable, or are in pain when sexual trauma is happening.
When you find your child, keeping secrets or not talking, as much as usual, these can be signs of sexual abuse.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help your child talk about fears of being left alone
Additionally, your child may fear being alone with a person who is sexually abusing them or molesting them. Children may be adverse to going to a grandparent’s house if they are being sexually abused there.
If your child is being sexually abused by a coach, they may not want to goto sports practice. For instance, when you try to drop your child off at baseball practice, if their coach has been abusing them, they will have anxiety being alone with their coach. Your child may want to even quit the team. As well, our child might have an anxiety attack or a panic attack in the car on the way to baseball practice. Your child may have loved baseball before, but now be afraid to be away from you, as their parent. They might ask you to stay with them during the entire baseball practice and fear being left alone with their baseball coach.
Regression is common after sexual abuse
As well, children who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual trauma may resort to younger behaviors. It is normal to see a regression in certain behaviors. For instance, a ten year old may want to suck on things or teethe again. Regressive behaviors are common, such as bedwetting or thumb sucking, after sexual abuse.
A child who has grown out of bed wedding may regress to bed wedding, after experiencing molestation, incest, or sexual trauma. It is important to not get mad at your child if you find them bedwetting or thumb sucking.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Fear of bathing or showering is common after childhood sexual trauma
Another sign that your child may have experience sexual abuse, and can benefit from sexual abuse counseling is fear of bathing.
Talking with your child about their fear of bathing can help you understand if they have been a victim of unwanted sexual touch or sexual trauma.
If your child has two homes or has spent time at a relative’s house and trauma has occurred while bathing, they may be afraid to bathe. You might find your child is reluctant to get in the shower. Or, a child after sexual trauma may be afraid someone will come into the shower with them, and hurt them. As well, a child may fear bathing and that they will not get the privacy they want. Additionally, your child may be afraid to take off their clothes in order to get in the bath or shower. As a result of sexual trauma, children may avoid baths and showers.
Noticing these concerning behaviors such as avoiding showering is a good first step. If your child does not want to get in the shower or bath, reach out for child therapy for sexual trauma. The team at Wisdom Within Counseling can help understand why your child may be afraid to remove their clothing. Your child may be a victim of sexual assault and sexual trauma.
Holistic child therapy for sexual trauma can help eating issues and appetite changes that can develop
Other signs can include changes in appetite and changes in eating habits. And, after sexual abuse, a child may experience loss of appetite. Children who have experienced sexual trauma and sexual abuse may also develop eating disorders like binge eating disorder.
After sexual abuse and molestation, your child may be eating large amounts of food at one time. As well, children who have been molested may be binging on junk food. Your child might be seeking comfort through food, and having maladaptive eating disorder behaviors as a result of sexual assault.
Additionally, after sexual trauma, incest, or sexual abuse, your child may develop anorexia, compulsive over exercising, or obsessive compulsive disorder.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help your child find outlets for anxiety, anger and aggression
Some children, experience, anger and aggression after experiences of sexual trauma. Anger is normal due to the many, intense emotions inside. Your child lacks verbal skills to talk about what they are feeling. Therefore, play therapy can help your child have multiple outlets to express themselves. Using storybooks, play therapy, art materials, and nature therapies can provide anger outlets. Your child can tell their story of sexual trauma and abuse through play therapy. When your child is angry for no reason, they may be holding in a lot of intense emotions. Positive coping strategies can help relieve anger and promote emotional expression tools.
Furthermore, other children may have low self-esteem, be self-conscious, or lack confidence.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Somatic symptoms such as body pain after sexual trauma in childhood
It’s important to know that unexplained body pain, stomach issues, and headaches are often a sign of trauma. Body pain, belly aches, and headache are common after sexual trauma. Even though your child may not be able to verbalize the sexual trauma that has occurred to them, they may be showing emotional and physical signs of abuse. Holistic child therapy for sexual trauma can help your child understand how their body is giving them signals.
Depression symptoms after sexual trauma
Some children who experience sexual trauma and molestation, may lose interest in school and have a lack of motivation overall. A child who has experience sexual trauma and sexual abuse may no longer find joy in life. They may skip school. As well, after childhood experiences of sexual trauma, a child may no longer want to do the activities and hobbies they once enjoyed. They may lose interest in spending time with friends. Overall, children who experience a sexual abuse in childhood may feel lonely and emotionally numb. Disassociation is a very common symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma.
Adolescents and teenagers may take part in self harming behaviors, or cutting. Your adolescent or teenager may seem depressed, aloof, and socially withdrawn after sexual trauma and sexual abuse. Childhood sexual abuse may cause sudden changes in your child’s behavior and emotions.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help parents understand that other children can be perpetrators, not just adults.
If your child was sexually abused while at a sleepover at a friends house, your child may come home moody. Your child may also fear being alone at night. It is important to know that adults are not the only ones that can sexually abuse a child. Other children are common perpetrators. When your child has a sleepover at a neighbor’s house, a neighbor child can be sexually abusing your child. As common as it is for trusted adults to sexually abuse children, other children can be perpetrators too. It is also common for a child, who is even one or two years older than your child to sexually abuse a younger child.
Don’t allow your child to sleep over at a neighbor’s house simply because the parents seem safe. Also, it is important to know that an older peer can be dangerous and sexually abusive. Children who have been sexually abused may sexually abuse other children. If your child is coming back from a sleep over, and is experiencing any of these emotional or physical signs, they may be a victim of sexual abuse and trauma. As a parent, if you see any of these signs of sexual abuse, it is normal to be concerned. Reach out for child therapy for sexual trauma at Wisdom Within Counseling to get your child help.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Talking with a child therapist and play therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling, can be very helpful.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, you can work with a child therapist after sexual trauma. Your child can use play therapy, storytelling, puppets, and musical instruments to express how they are feeling.
As well, when your child has experience sexual abuse, they can start to tell their story through, art, painting, and even using clay. Play therapy allows your child to feel safe in the world again.
Making a sound with a musical instrument can be a great outlet for your child. Children do not have the verbal skills that adults have. An adult might want to verbalize their experiences of sexual trauma. But, a child may need storytelling, puppets, or even art materials to talk about what they are feeling.
Music, art, meditation, and nature therapies are parts of child therapy for sexual trauma and sexual abuse at Wisdom Within Counseling
As well, if your child is telling you that going somewhere or spending time with someone makes them feel uncomfortable, it is important to listen to them. Working with a child therapist, who specializes in sexual trauma can help you as a parent feel more confident. You might feel torn if your child doesn’t want to see their grandparent anymore. Parts of you, as a parent may feel like you have to facilitate the relationship with them and their grandparent. However, when your child is telling you that they feel uncomfortable, this could be a sign that their loved one or grandparent is sexually abusing them.
Even if your child can’t tell you anything specific about the sexual abuse that has occurred, it is essenital to listen to them if they are saying when they feel uncomfortable.
When your child has been sexually abused, it is important that they work with a child therapist and specialist in sexual trauma and abuse.
Working with a child therapist who specializes in childhood sexual abuse can help your child learn to say, “No.” Whether their friend, a neighbor, coach, teacher, or relative tries to touch then in an unwanted way, your child can be aware of their body boundaries. As a parent, you can also learn to respect your child’s boundaries and healthy adult and their life respect their boundaries.
A child therapist who specializes in sexual abuse, can help your child understand body boundaries. When someone touches your child in an unwanted way, they can learn to talk to you about it immediately. Instead of keeping secrets, your child can learn to speak up.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Parents can learn how to enforce boundaries after sexual abuse in child and family therapy
If your child is attracted to relationships with older friends, this is a sign that they may be in harms way. Counseling can help you protect your child by prevent relationships with older people. As a parent, you can learn to be very perceptive of only supporting age-appropriate relationships. You can also be perceptive if you notice older adults, trying to be a friend to your child, rather than an adult. Some adults try to sexually abuse children by pretending to be a child themselves.
Being perceptive of these predatory relationships are parts of working with a sexual trauma therapist. As well, parents can become perceptive of older children, or a trusted adult that may be perpetrators. Older children and trusted adults may try to make excuses to have alone time with your child. Your child may be reluctant to spend time with these people as a result of unwanted, touch and feeling uncomfortable around them. As a parent, you can start to be perceptive to the signs that your young child may be experiencing due to sexual abuse.
As a parent, you can also learn it is okay to restrict access to who gets to spend time with your child.
It is not easy to find out that your child has experienced inappropriate touch and sexual trauma.
Working with a team of therapists at Wisdom within counseling can help you let go of the shame and guilt that may come with learning this news. When your child has shared that they have been sexually abused, you can talk with a child specialist at Wisdom Within Counseling. Our team of therapists specialize play therapy and creative expressive arts. Holistic play therapies help children who have been sexually abused develop positive coping strategies.
Wisdom Within Counseling also works with parents to help them overcome shame and guilt after learning their child has been molested. Parents and children can heal from sexual trauma through child therapy. When working with a child therapist who specializes in sexual trauma, your child can start to feel safe in the world again. As a parent, you can learn to pay attention to your intuition and be perceptive of child predators. You can also learn to talk with your child and family members about what has happened to prevent future sexual abuse experiences.
As a parent, learning that your child has been sexually abused, may bring up your own experiences of rape, incest, or inappropriate touch.
In your own childhood, you have been molested or received unwanted touch. When you learn that your own child has experienced sexual abuse, you may be flooded with memories of your own sexually abuse. You can talk with a Wisdom Within Counseling trauma therapist about your experiences of rape.
Working with a trauma therapist who specializes in sexual assault and sexual abuse trauma can help you as a parent support your child. To add, you can also learn positive strategies to self regulate and lower your own anxiety as a parent. As well, you can cope with your own PTSD through trauma therapy.
To begin, click below for a phone consult for play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma and abuse.
Child therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling and help parents and children recover from sexual abuse and sexual trauma.
If you notice any of the symptoms above, or your child has talked about experiencing sexual abuse, the team out Wisdom Within Counseling would love to support you.
Sexual abuse is a sensitive topics and it is very important to work with a specialist who understands play therapy. Play therapy can help your child cope with the trauma they have experienced.
What happens when children don’t get play therapy and child therapy for sexual trauma?
When children do not get their mental health therapy that they need after sexual abuse, they may develop negative coping skills. For instance, teenagers may numb out and use drugs. Adults who have been sexually abused in childhood suffer from alcoholism. To add, adults with a history of unresolved sexual trauma may have challenges building romantic relationships in adulthood. Adults may have intimacy issues after sexual assault in childhood.
When children do not get the sexual assault counseling they need, they may be a part of more unsafe situations. Giving your child positive coping tools while they are young, through child therapy for sexual assault, can help them develop positive skills. Positive coping strategies can include learning about consent and body boundaries.
Children in therapy gain positive tools and strategies to cope with emotions in healthy ways.
As well, child therapy for sexual trauma can help children gain awareness tools. This way, they can potentially avoid other unsafe situations in the future. Children in trauma therapy can learn how to speak up for themselves. Working with a child therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling, who specializes in childhood sexual assault, can help your entire family function better. Sexual abuse impacts the whole family. Everyone can come together in family therapy to talk about the impact of trauma and sexual abuse. Siblings, parents, and others may have intense emotions they want to share in family counseling sessions.
Child therapy for sexual trauma can help parents necessary steps to protect their child after sexual abuse, molestation, incest, or rape. Working with the team at Wisdom Within Counseling can give your child trauma coping tools. Play therapy, art, yoga, music, and outdoor nature therapies help children to bounce back after sexual trauma.
Wisdom Within Counseling also help parents who may be survivors of sexual trauma and abuse themselves, returning to parenting feeling strong and refreshed.
