Don’t Neglect Yourself After Your Child Has Been Sexually Abused

The headline of this article may sound somewhat controversial. Why should you worry about yourself when your child has been seriously violated and hurt by a sexual predator? This is not about you, your feelings, or your recovery. Right now, you are focused on helping your child to get through this ordeal.

You Are Your Child’s Best Chance at Recovery

That is the reason why you need to take care of yourself. If you bury your emotions and fail to find an outlet for what has happened, it may be difficult to be strong for your child in the months and years ahead. Although everyone has a different way of dealing with strong emotions like grief, anger, and guilt, you may wish to consider the following:

  • Talking to your friends or a professional counselor. You may benefit from talking with someone whom you do not have to be “on” for or worry about upsetting.
  • Maintaining your typical routine. This may include work and exercise, for example.

 

You may also benefit, and thereby help your child, by being proactive about your child’s possible recovery.

Allow a Lawyer to Pursue a Legal Recovery

You may want to see justice done. An experienced lawyer can help protect your child by fighting for his recovery from sexual abuse injuries in a Chicago school, a Northbrook church, a Des Plaines locker room, or anywhere else in the greater Chicago area.

For more information, please contact us today. You may also wish to follow us on Facebook to stay current on important information for families of child sex abuse victims.

 

Category: Child Sex Abuse

Five Things Your Friends Don’t Understand After Your Child’s Been Sexually Abused in Illinois

You are not keeping secrets. You may long for the understanding and support of your friends after your child has been sexually abused in Berwyn, Cicero, or anywhere else in the Chicago area. Your friends may want to support you and your family, but they might not know how because they might not understand what you are going through.

What Your Friends Don’t Know

Right now your every waking thought may be about your child who suffered sexual abuse. Your friends who have, thankfully, never faced similar situations may know that you are sad, but they may not know that you feel:

  • Guilty.
  • Scared.
  • Embarrassed.
  • Responsible.
  • Lonely.

They might not know that the sexual abuse of your child is all that you think about and that it is difficult for you to think about anything else.

It’s Okay to Let Them In

You don’t want to burden your friends and you hope that they never experience this kind of pain first hand. However, it is important to remember that your friends love you and genuinely want to help you through this difficult time.

Accordingly, it is important to communicate with them in any way that you can. You can tell them each what you need, you can tell one person and authorize her to share your needs with specific other people, and you can share this blog post with your friends so that they have a better understanding of what you are going through.

Do you have any tips for communicating with your friends after your child’s been sexually abused? Please leave a comment and share your tips with others who may be facing similar situations. Your comment may help make this difficult time a little easier for someone else.

How You Can Maintain Privacy and Pursue Justice After Child Sex Abuse

The person who abused you was someone whom you, and your parents, trusted. It was not a stranger who abused you. Instead, it might have been a priest with the Chicago Archdiocese or a family friend who is well respected in Arlington Heights.

You may be worried about making allegations against the person who did this to you, and you may be unsure whether you want your name associated with a child sex abuse case. However, what if you could maintain your privacy and hold the person who sexually abused you, or your child, accountable?

It Is Possible

You can maintain your privacy and pursue justice at the same time if you work with a lawyer who is committed to making both of these things happen. At Lane Brown, for example, we never make the name of our child sex abuse clients public, either in court documents or in the media, unless we first have permission from that client. We are discreet, we are compassionate, and we are committed to doing what we can to protect individual victims of child sex abuse and to end institutional cover ups of these unacceptable actions.

No Child Should Ever Be the Victim of Sex Abuse

A child who was sexually abused by an adult has suffered enough and should not have to suffer more by going public. To learn more about the types of child sex abuse cases we handle, please peruse our case results. Moreover, if you have questions about what has happened to you and what you can you do about it now, contact us to schedule a confidential case consultation.

 

Category: Child Sex Abuse

 

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Erring on the Side of Caution When Caring for a Survivor of Child Sexual Abuse

While any sexual abuse survivor needs help and understanding during recovery, children can be especially vulnerable after trauma because they can’t always:

  • Report their symptoms
  • Ask for what they need
  • Talk through complex feelings
  • Identify the source of their troubles

This means that parents and caretakers have to take the time to think through a lot of difficult care decisions. While you don’t want to overwhelm your child with medical visits, counseling sessions, and potentially “triggering” situations, it is important to err on the side of caution before ruling out treatment options. Keep in mind that:

  • Children often take longer to speak up about sexual abuse.
  • The doctors and therapists caring for your child need special training and skills.
  • Physical symptoms and emotional trauma may not always be obvious or apparent.
  • Careful follow-up care gives your child the best chance to recover fully.
  • Some children struggle with physical, emotional, and sexual issues into adulthood.

If your child has survived sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted adult at school, work, or play, he or she may struggle with the effects for years to come—and sometimes into adulthood. As a parent, you know you need to put a lot of thought and care into helping your child recover, but it isn’t always easy to know what to do or how to get started. Talking with one of our experienced attorneys can help you understand your legal rights, plan for your child’s long-term care, and give your family the tools it needs to recover from a traumatic event. Learn more today by calling 312-332-1400.

Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse May Struggle With Long-Term Effects

When you find out that your child has been sexually abused, the priority is obviously on their immediate needs for treatment and care. However, don’t let their long-term recovery fall by the wayside. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse often deal with significant problems related to the abuse for many years afterward, and they may need ongoing counseling and other kinds of professional support as they develop into teens and young adults. Making sure that they have access to the medical and emotional support they need in the years to come can have a positive impact on their development and contribute to a healthy recovery.

Long-Term Therapy May Be Necessary for Children Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse

After the immediate medical and emotional needs of your child have been addressed, it’s time to start thinking about how the sexual abuse may follow them into adulthood and what can be done to ease their recovery over time. The effects of abuse can interfere with a child’s social development, emotional wellbeing, and performance at school or work well into adulthood, and these long-term issues often include:

  • Depression, anxiety, and self-worth issues
  • Persistent feelings of guilt, blame, and shame
  • Body image and eating disorders
  • Problems in family, friend, and love relationships
  • Sexual issues

Abusers who prey on the children in schools, churches, day care, and youth-serving organizations should be held responsible for the unthinkable harm they have done to the lives of innocent children. If you have questions about helping your child recover or about your family’s rights, please don’t hesitate to give our law office a call at 312-332-1400 for free and confidential help with your concerns.

Are You Being Informed About the Progress of Your Child’s Sex Abuse Case?

It was very difficult for your family to come forward about a case of child sexual abuse, and you’ve been waiting as patiently as you can for updates about the legal process. If your attorney isn’t keeping you informed about the case, responding to your calls, or explaining the current situation in language you understand, it may be time to start demanding answers. After the trauma of speaking up, silence from a trusted ally can really hurt.

Parents Need Clear Communication From Their Attorneys About Child Sex Abuse Cases

While there isn’t always any new news for your attorney to report, you can’t make decisions for your family or move ahead if you never know what is going on. Child sex abuse cases are both stressful and sensitive, and they can last for many months…sometimes even years. The attorney you work with to help your child through the legal process should understand the difficulty of your family’s experience and always make keeping you informed a priority, including:

  • What the current status of your family’s case is
  • What that means for you in simple, straightforward terms
  • What to expect next from the legal process
  • What you and your family should be doing or preparing for
  • What the best-case and worst-case scenarios are in your situation

We understand that it isn’t easy to talk about the sexual abuse of a child or know whom to trust with your concerns. If you need free and confidential answers to your questions, our legal team is ready to speak with you at 312-332-1400.

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