Helping Caregivers Cope with Sibling Sexual Abuse
Please note: This training is not eligible for CE credits.
Each registration includes a certificate for attendance. To be eligible for a certificate, you must attend the entire live training and complete an evaluation form within 24 hours following the live event.
When sexual abuse among siblings occurs, parents and other caregivers often become flooded with emotions such as anger, shame, sadness, fear, confusion, disbelief, regret, helplessness, and self-blame. These feelings make it difficult for parents to determine how best to support both of their children. While research and conferences have begun addressing the treatment of families impacted by sibling abuse, there remains a significant lack of resources specifically tailored to guiding parents as they navigate their way through these complex situations.
This training empowers professionals to help parents and caregivers find answers to key questions, including:
- How could this have happened?
- What did I do wrong?
- How do I protect the child who was harmed from further harm?
- Will my child who did the harm grow up to abuse other children?
- Will my family ever be happy, whole, and safe?
Adding to the complexity is that many parents and caregivers may be separated or divorced, or face economic difficulties, or have little free time for picking up the pieces after abuse has occurred. In this training, Ms. Kurtz draws on her years of direct clinical work to help professionals:
- Recognize and address the needs of the parents so that they can protect both siblings from further harm
- Gain awareness of risk and protective factors so that they may better prevent further harm
- Understand the impact of child sexual abuse on the child and the older sibling
- Differentiate developmentally normative from non-normative sexual behavior in children and adolescents
- Help their family heal through setting healthy boundaries. This includes providing effective supervision, accessing helpful resources, and most importantly, engaging in compassionate, attuned, and empathic parenting of both their children.
Above all, this training provides professionals with methods for engaging parents and caregivers as they face the challenge of restoring health and safety.
Interactive Follow-Up Meeting
Attendees are invited to join an open discussion 15 minutes following the end of the training, where you can engage with fellow attendees by turning on your camera and microphone. This is an opportunity to share your experiences and contribute to a meaningful exchange of ideas. Time will be allocated to address questions or insights from the training. Please note that attendance is optional and will not affect your eligibility for a training certificate.
1) Help parents and caregivers to understand how abuse happened in their family.
2) Identify and address the needs of parents and caregivers in the aftermath of the discovery of abuse.
3) Initiate collaborative and non-judgmental treatment aimed at preventing further abuse.
Audience
This training is primarily for professionals who work with families affected by sibling sexual abuse. This includes psychologists, counselors, therapists, social workers, healthcare providers, and other professionals involved in safeguarding youths.
Content Level
Cancellations
Who's Presenting
Arliss Kurtz, MSW, RSW
Arliss Kurtz MSW, RSW is a registered clinical social worker from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Ms. Kurtz has 30+ years of experience working within child welfare, community mental health/psychiatry, and forensic areas of practice within varied work settings, and is currently in private practice. She has presented on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, compassion fatigue/burn out, self-care, therapy with youth who have engaged in sexual harm, trauma-informed practice and caregiving, and mental health and wellness information. Ms. Kurtz regularly volunteers her time to the Manitoba
College of Social Workers, most recently as Chair of the Inquiry Committee, a judiciary process related to the Complaints Committee. She is on the international ATSA Child and Adolescent Committee, Chair of the In-Reach Subcommittee where she created, co-developed, and co-facilitates a monthly, International learning and on-line peer consultation forum. She is also on the Child and Adolescent Best Practice Subcommittee and was a member of the 2022 ATSA Conference Committee that was held in Los Angeles where she also co-presented two workshops. As part of her career development and self-care practice, Ms. Kurtz is currently working through a yearlong hybrid yoga teacher training that is held on-line for 11 months and will culminate with an immersion and certification experience in Costa Rica. Once certified, she will be melding aspects of Raja yoga practice, also known as the “Royal Path”, within her clinical practice.