We Are Adult Survivors of Child Abuse and Neglect

A couple of years ago I watched a brave woman soldier testify on Capitol Hill about abuse in the military. Even though it was televised and the politicians talked as if they would do something about it, I knew nothing would change. I grew up in a military family, and

Every time I read a research article that presents its findings on abuse and domestic violence, they constantly put out the same mantra that poverty is a major indicator. As I’ve said on other posts, abuse has nothing to do with a household’s income. People with money can afford to

Anyone that says the media has no role in sex education, that it is just “reflecting everyday life,” is either blind or doesn’t care how powerful its messages of “anything goes” are to young children. To the tens of millions of American citizens like me who were raped and forced to live

Even though the need to mobilize resources to confront and deal with the issue of child abuse is no secret to those in the government and psychiatric communities, why isn’t this discussed on a national level? If traumatized children are identified early enough, it can greatly reduce the total cost

The first time I met someone who used self-injury to cope with her distress was during one of my hospitalizations. I felt very sad for her because I understood the depth of the pain she must have been dealing with and how desperate she must have felt.

Men, just like women, normally don’t disclose that they were abused as children. Men, however, have an additional burden because of the stereotypes placed on them by society that they must be “manly” and hide their feelings. All this does is to reinforce the old messages that they are to

When a child is violated by a trusted adult or any other person who is older, more powerful, or is in a position of authority over him/her, it creates overwhelming feelings of fear, confusion and overstimulation for the child. The message sent to the child is that his/her body

By failing to have a consistent and adequate caretaker, an infant or young child will be unsuccessful in achieving the goal of establishing and maintaining an ongoing relationship with their adult caretaker. The consequences of such a failure can be profound. Through these repeated, neglectful experiences with a caretaker, an infant

Children who have been sexually victimized usually report some type of intrapersonal disturbance. A victimized child feels he/she is unable to protect him/herself, is vulnerable to invasion from others, and feels different from others which many times leads to a sense of isolation, and often develops