While abuse by a juvenile can impact a child emotionally, physically and spiritually, the process of dealing with a juvenile abuser and the outcome of that different process can be quite different. Ministry leaders and the families they serve should familiarize themselves with the issues and access quality resources and expertise to determine what kind […]
Deep as the Sea: Letters to Survivors of Trauma by Timothy C. Bourman is written for the survivor of trauma. Survivors of sexual assault, as well as childhood abuse, natural disasters, veterans with PTSD, survivors of a mass shooting, or horrific accident – all will find healing and help in these pages.
Child abuse does not only affect a child’s body and emotional health. It touches their spiritual health, too. A child who was abused may have difficulty believing in a loving God. They may believe that they have some intrinsic quality that means God cannot care for them. Sometimes this comes as a direct result of hearing ugly words from the abuser. Other times, it comes from the child’s internal thoughts.
At some level we all realize that investigations in real life take longer than they do on television. Yet, parents are often surprised and overwhelmed by the process of investigating the crime. Law enforcement protocols vary based on state law and availability of services. What follows are some of the things that could happen during an investigation.
Some abuse is only discovered when a child talks to his or her parent about what happened. Hearing this in your child’s voice is heartbreaking and stirs up many emotions. It may be hard to believe, especially if the perpetrator is known to you.
Many survivors of childhood abuse report feelings of being alone in the world, that no one can understand them. These feelings are deeply rooted in the abuse, where the perpetrator methodically created a private space of, “Don’t tell.” They come from feelings of shame survivors experience, making them unwilling to disclose their abuse.
Survivors of trauma, whether childhood abuse, sexual assault, or domestic abuse, share a belief that the abuse was their fault. A person abused as a child may believe they were not loveable enough, or they could have stopped the abuse. Children who are sexually abused by a caregiver believe that they acted in a way that made the perpetrator want to have sex with them.
People who have experienced trauma may experience flashbacks in their everyday lives. Flashbacks can be intense and bring back the emotions and senses experienced during the trauma. These memories are felt as if they are currently happening, rather than something that occurred in the past.
Experiencing a sudden onset of the feelings and emotions that you felt during an abusive situation is a common experience for survivors. This is because the brain records and stores traumatic memories differently from non-traumatic ones. Trauma floods the body with hormones that turn off certain parts of the brain and make other parts go into overdrive.
10 steps to becoming a safer church for kids
The church must surround the children in its care with people who are safe and loving. Why, then, do so many churches fail to properly vet those who work with them?
People in the congregation must first understand the statistics and results of child abuse to feel compelled to do something about it.
The work of ensuring children are safe in religious settings is not something that can fall on one person’s shoulders.
Choosing a counselor should not be difficult. Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting yours.
Although most people are aware of the physical and emotional toll of child abuse, many do not appreciate the spiritual impact of abusing children. According to 34 major studies involving more than 19,000 abused children, a majority of them were impacted spiritually as a result of maltreatment. In some cases, this happens when an offender […]
Review of The Child Safeguarding Policy for Churches and Ministries, by Basyle Tchividjian and Shira M. Berkovits
Review of William Woodington’s book Whatever is True: A Christian View of Anxiety
“…the LORD was with [Joseph].” – Genesis 39:3 Abuse destroys lives: physically, psychologically, emotionally. Sometimes abuse kills. This is why we fight back. We pray, of course, but we also report physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as the crime it is. And yet, Christians survive abuse. Martin Luther looked at Joseph and appealed to a […]
“…the LORD gave [Joseph] success in everything…” – Genesis 39:3 “It could be worse.” “It’s darkest before the dawn.” “Something good must come from this.” You’ve heard these. They’re meant well. They prove that we don’t process trauma well. Sometimes silence is best, right? If someone just sat with us until things got better. But […]
“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.” – Genesis 39:1 If you didn’t know better, you’d make nothing of Genesis 39:1. It sounds harmless. Far from it. Joseph’s been sold into slavery, a horrific trauma. His brothers did this. They roughed him up, stole his clothes, threw him into a cistern, and debated whether […]