Feb 15 2009
Look Out For Child Abuse
I encountered my first case of child abuse last week. Peter (Alias) is 9 year old. He lives in the same room with his mother and his mother’s lived in boy-friend. His mother’s boy-friend resented him because of the lack of privacy when he wanted intimate moments alone with Peter’s mother. Peter was locked into a wardrobe during these times. What’s worse, the man made up various excuses including: you did not flush the toilet; you did not seal the opening of the gabbage bag, etc. Peter felt that he was locked up because of something that he did wrong and ended up having a very low self-esteem. I was furious about this abuse but had to keep my cool to try to reduce the damage. I don’t think I can do this by myself and have referred Peter on to a clinical psychologist. The police is also informed to follow up on this case.
