Creating a Safe Place : Helping Children and Families Recover from Child Sexual Abuse

Highlighting the importance of a 'safe place' as the foundation of the healing process for those affected by child sexual abuse, this practical book details the factors that contribute to a secure therapeutic climate where recovery can take place.

The Children and Families Project draws on the perspectives of those who have been abused to show how a person-centred approach to establishing a sense of safety can enable children and their relatives to regain trust and self-esteem.

The book demonstrates how therapeutic services can be improved through feedback from service users and how creative activities such as storytelling, painting and drama can encourage the expression of experiences. The need for preventative work is also addressed. Of particular relevance to professionals is the exploration of some of the difficulties that may be encountered in this field of work, such as the tension that can arise between therapeutic work and the child protection system.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone working with abused children and adults.

The Children and Families Project is a multidisciplinary team founded in 1993 and is part of a national network of centres established by NCH to offer therapeutic support to sexually abused children and their relatives.