Eligibility

Therapy is a wonderful opportunity for children and teenagers with a history of trauma to feel normal again. ChildSafe provides counseling services to children traumatized by physical and sexual abuse, neglect, or witness to violence between the ages of 3-18. Siblings and non-offending caregivers may also be eligible for counseling services. 

Therapies Offered by ChildSafe

ChildSafe offers a number of different forms of counseling services geared toward healing a traumatized child and family, including:

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). TF-CBT focuses on helping children and teenagers recognize how some of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have been shaped by their trauma. TF-CBT helps them to cope with and change those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 
• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). PCIT is a treatment for parents and children who have difficulty communicating and interacting effectively together. PCIT is used for children ages 2-8. 
• Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI). CFTSI is brief intervention model (6-8 sessions) for reducing trauma symptoms in children and teens.  
• Adventure Therapy. Adventure therapy is a four-session model of treatment to strengthen family bonding. ChildSafe recognizes trauma also affects many people in the child’s life and therefore works to promote empowerment, open lines of communication, and build trust in families through adventure-based activities.
• Group therapy. Group therapy is an opportunity for children who have experienced trauma to meet, share their stories, and receive support and education together. A caregiver group runs in conjunction with the child group.  All groups are based on experiential learning and support modeled after our adventure therapy program.    

Therapy Is Important

Many parents and caregivers would like to put the events of the trauma behind them and not have their child talk about what has happened. And children and teens are really good at hiding the shame, guilt, and anger that often accompanies their abuse. Unfortunately, masking of emotion may lead to the development of negative coping patterns, which in turn may lead to long-term health issues. Areas of concern range from long-term mental health disorders, anxiety, behavior disorders, substance abuse, and general health concerns, like heart disease, diabetes, and liver disease, to name a few. 

ChildSafe’s research-based treatments target trauma symptoms to reduce the likelihood of negative long-term impact. 

Therapy only succeeds when the youth and the family are willing to participate. Youth and caregivers should feel welcomed to discuss their concerns, discomfort, and any scheduling issues. A key goal in the ChildSafe program is to reduce barriers to treatment for families. 

What steps are involved in receiving therapy?

• The caregiver and youth will meet with their therapist alone during the first session to complete introductory paperwork and assessments about the youth’s current behaviors. These assessments help the therapist target areas of concern for treatment and ensure the child is receiving the appropriate model of treatment. 
• Assessments will be provided every three months to monitor your child’s progress in treatment. 
• Parents and caregivers will be asked to participate in the majority of the sessions in order to add to their child’s sense of support during the healing process. Caregiver participation and support are a vital component of the healing process in all treatment offered at ChildSafe. Caregivers may be asked to participate in one or more sessions without the youth present.