Children’s Center Needs Your Help
Imagine, if you will, a world where you must regularly think about ways to protect yourself; where being in close quarters with the wrong person could be dangerous; or, where doing the wrong thing could put you in the hospital. Sound familiar? After weeks of living with COVID-19, it probably does.
Unfortunately, this kind of stress is a common occurrence for kids who experience abuse. Whether it’s physical or sexual, a child who is in an abusive environment lives in a state of fear and anxiety.
That is why, once a child is safe from the perpetrator, and has received the right intervention, working with a therapist helps that child to manage the fear, anger, grief and shame that is often the aftermath of abuse.
Take for example Annie. Children’s Center was able to offer a child abuse assessment; evidence that helped put her abuser in prison. Just as importantly, we offered her and her family evidence-based Trauma Focused – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) to help her heal.
In each 60-minute session, Annie and her parents built a therapeutic relationship with MaryBeth, her TF-CBT Nationally Certified Therapist, who provided a safe place where they could learn skills and techniques to help her manage her overwhelming emotions and trauma symptoms in a healthy way. MaryBeth assisted them in identifying common goals they could accomplish to foster Annie’s ability to share and process her trauma memories. The family also learned strategies to more effectively communicate with one another both inside and outside of the therapy sessions.
Today, at 12-years old, Annie is flourishing; a happy, healthy pre-teen who loves school, baking chocolate chip cookies, and playing one-on-one basketball with her Dad and younger siblings.
“Annie has worked so hard,” says MaryBeth, “and while she may still need additional therapeutic support on occasion, she is well on her way to a future that will be positive and productive.”
We know that COVID-19 is halting life as we know it; however, critical therapy appointments and urgent assessments must continue for those children who need them.
This means Children’s Center staff must quickly become and then stay current on government regulations and funding changes, create a whole new set of protocols to protect kids and staff, and set up a HIPPA-compliant teleconferencing option for therapy. We need to stay open during this time, and we need your help!
Stress is high for everyone right now, and it is important to realize that the kids we help face this kind of anxiety regularly. So please, appease your apprehension by donating to Children’s Center right now.
Your gift, no matter the size, will help Children’s Center keep our doors open for important assessments and needed therapeutic appointments for kids like Annie during this time of crisis.
With gratitude for your support,
Rebecca Nickels, MSW
Interim Executive Director, Children’s Center