Training Title:
Retired ~ Foster Care, Part E. Sexual Abuse and Foster Care

Clock Hours: 1

Objectives:
• Understand what happens when a child lacks affect regulation. • Learn what happens as the sexually abused child grows older.

Description:
Recent figures show 513,000 children were in foster care in the United States and as many as 5.4 million children living with grandparents. In this program we explore the issues of foster care and parental alternatives from a number of viewpoints, with a special emphasis on understanding attachment theory and trauma, which are both the backdrops and main features in work with this population. Current statistics show that as many as 75% of children in foster care have been sexually abused. Of these children who receive psychotherapy, treatment is a rocky road. Recognizing these challenges and the need of these children for long term therapy, Dr. Heineman established A Home Within, the only national organization focused on the emotional well-being of foster youth. Therapists in this program treat these children for as long as they need and at no charge. In this interview, Toni Heineman, DMH, Mental Health, discusses psychotherapy with children living in foster care who have suffered sexual abuse.

Approval Bodies