LOGAN — Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse has expanded its free therapy services to include one of organization's most sheltered group — children.
The community-based organization began in 1976 with volunteers managing a rape crisis hotline, known as the Cache Valley Rape Crisis Team. Three years later, the organization evolved to Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse. It now provides other resources, including shelter, for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
Last year, the organization expanded its resources to include therapy for its clients.
"Originally, we started with a part-time therapist and right from the start there was a waiting list to see her," said Jill Anderson, the group's executive director. "And that's not helpful for trauma cases."
The increased demand for free therapy services contributed to the decision to hire two new therapists, including Codie Thurgood, a therapist with experience working with children, said James Boyd, the group's director of marketing and development.
"I think it's really exciting that they are developing the therapy program here in general and adding on working with children — there's such a need," Thurgood said. "It's something that's so powerful, especially for children, to give them that sense of power in themselves."
About 15.5 million children in the United States witness domestic violence every year, according to the study "Estimating the Number of American Children Living in Partner-Violent Families" published by the Journal of Family Psychology.
But 90 percent of parents who engage in domestic violence believe their children don't know about the domestic violence, according to the Childhood Domestic Violence Association.
"They think, 'Well OK, I was able to cover what happened to me, and I was able to act in a way that my child did not know,'" said Leila Elmi-Stuart, the Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse clinical and outreach service director. "But this is not true. A child can see, they can feel and they can observe even when we are not aware of it."
In fact, 90 percent of children know their parents are in a violent relationship, according to the Childhood Domestic Violence Association.
The negative effects of domestic violence are not dependent on age or sex of the child, according to the study "Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence, Psychopathology, and Functional Impairment in Children and Adolescents: Moderator Effect of Sex and Age" published by the Journal of Family Violence.
Some children become overly aggressive or withdrawn while others become overly friendly. Anxiety, depression and bed-wetting are also common signs, Elmi-Stuart said.
"It's very confusing for children, too," added Thurgood. "They're seeing, 'Oh, this is what love looks like.' When in reality, that's not love so it's kind of conflicting to have those messages all the time."
To help children recover from the effects of domestic violence, Thurgood said she uses trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. This involves sessions with just the child, then sessions with just the parent and then joint sessions where they work together as a team.
The therapy works to create a sense of self-worth in children, she said, digging deeper until the child feels that they should be respected and respect others in turn.
This can take an average of 12 to 20 weeks, Thurgood said, as children work on specific goals to recover from domestic violence.
Another hope with the therapy is that it will help stop the continuation of domestic violence. Children who witness domestic violence are 2.6 times more likely to perpetuate it, Boyd said.
"If we want to end abuse, which is what our goal is here in Cache Valley, we have to help children not fall into that perpetrator trap," he said. "And this is one of the long-term ways we will help stop domestic violence in Cache Valley."
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