Their Pain

When your child talks about the abuse it will cause you a great deal of distress and pain too. In fact it will feel like your pain. It is normal to have a natural empathy with your child and as they describe the abuse word for word you may begin to associate too closely with their pain. This can make you part of their emotional cycle and very difficult for you to take a step back and offer the help and support that you need to give to your child. If this happens then we strongly recommend you seek help, or set clear boundaries and time limits when talking about the abuse. Don’t be afraid to take ‘time outs’ when the going gets rough for either of you. The other alternative is perhaps you were abused as a child too, and are finding the memories are flooding back. Again it might be time to stop, seek help, or take a time out.