Expert Interview
In this interview, Elena speaks with the child psychotherapist Linda Meißner about practical advice on how to properly support abused children.
1. Question: What would you recommend as the best way to help children who have been victims of sexual violence?
Answer: When helping children who have experienced sexual violence, the top priority is to create a safe environment and to immediately cut off any contact with the perpetrators. These children need persons with whom they can establish a stable, trusting relationship and who can provide a sense of security. This may include people from their social surroundings, who ideally should have received some prior training, or specially trained therapists.
Many affected children develop feelings of guilt and a negative self-image. It’s therefore crucial to assure the children that what happened to them is not their fault, and that the responsibility lies entirely with the perpetrator.
Moreover, it’s important to communicate with the child in an age-appropriate and honest way, to listen to them, and to take their feelings seriously—without pressuring them to talk about what happened.
To help these children process their experiences, trauma-focused child psychotherapy is recommended. There are various approaches to this, but EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) has proven particularly effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorders, either on its own or alongside psychotherapy.
2. Question: What are some typical long-term effects on these children if they do not receive help?
Answer: People process experiences very differently. A key factor in this is resilience, which we refer to as psychological strength, similar to an immune system for the psyche.
There are, however, a few typical risks for later in life if children don’t receive help. They are more vulnerable to developing psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety disorders, and lower self-esteem. Relationship difficulties are also common, meaning they may struggle with forming trusting relationships, they may mistrust people whom they could have healthy relationships, and some may be drawn to destructive relationships, for instance, confusing sexuality with love. There is also a heightened risk of developing substance abuse as well as self-harm tendencies.
3. Question: Do you have tips on how to support traumatized children even with limited resources?
Answer: I believe there are many effective, inexpensive ways to support children. This includes anything that strengthens self-worth and trust. Children need to have positive experiences again, ones that allow them to feel good and valuable. Ideally, this would be with a trusted person who respects the child’s boundaries. Generally, we talk about “corrective relational experiences,” which I believe are absolutely essential.
4. Question: How can the immediate environment or even volunteers support the healing process of these children?
Answer: One of the most important roles is to be a trustworthy point of contact for the child—someone who listens, believes them, helps relieve them of any guilt, and ensures they are protected from the perpetrator or a traumatic environment. In daily life, it can be helpful to maintain familiar structures and routines, which provide the child with security, as well as to facilitate positive activities and experiences.
Their direct environment can also assist by establishing contact with counseling services or psychotherapists.
5. Question: Do you believe there is a direct link between poverty and the sexual abuse of children?
Answer: Poverty alone is not a direct cause of sexual violence against children. However, certain factors associated with poverty can increase the risk, such as high levels of stress and family strain or dependencies between victims and perpetrators.
What plays a much more significant role, however, is that children living in poverty often receive help much later. They have less access to support and counseling services, which makes it harder to detect abuse.
Thank you for the conversation.