Getting Back on Track: A group work programme promoting children's resilience through promoting parents' resilience and strengths.

Author

Jessi Ly, Nicki Wickham

Getting back on Track was developed by Social Workers at the Child Protection Unit at Sydney Children's' Hospital, Australia as a response to the perceived need of parents to feel supported to enable them to cope with the abuse of their child and to help them to help their children deal better with abuse related issues.

A child's disclosure of sexual abuse generates a crisis not only for the child but also for other family members, particularly non-offending parents. The literature on child sexual abuse talks about the extreme disruption to normal family life of a disclosure and the need for a support network for parents, particularly in the case of abuse or assault by a family member.

The literature also suggests that children's emotional and behavioural adjustment following abuse is associated with the reactions and support they receive from their parents, that parental support is the best predictor of resiliency in sexually abused girls and that children with supportive caregivers generally exhibit fewer symptoms of distress after abuse.

In our clinical practice we have noted that parents find it extremely difficult to determine whether their children's moods and behaviours are due to sexual assault or are normal age related behaviours, particularly for those whose children are adolescents. They tend to attribute any perceived behavioural or emotional difficulties to the abuse at a time that is frequently very turbulent for children, whereas parents of a child with no history of sexual abuse may be far more likely to see them as 'normal' adolescent behaviour. The group context provided an opportunity for parents to discuss these issues, make comparisons and normalise some of their recent parenting experiences.

This presentation will describe the group programme and parents' experience of participating in the group and how it enabled them to help their children develop resilience.

Biography

Nicki Wickham is a Social Worker who has been employed as the group work coordinator at the Child Protection Unit at Sydney Children's Hospital since December 2002 - developing and running group programs for children and adolescents who have been sexually abused, and their families.

Jessie Ly is a Social Worker who has been working at the Child Protection Unit at Sydney Children's Hospital for the past 4 years. She works individually with children who have been abused and their familes and has been involved in the group work program with children and adolescents since it began.