A Parent's Journey Through A Child's Sexual Abuse: Surviving Sexual Abuse

by Sr. Dale Christensen

Overview

This book began as a recovery journal written by an ordinary father to help in his recovery from his six-year-old daughter's sexual abuse. His daughter was staying with a family relative when the abuse occurred. During the initial suffering he decided he wanted to help other victims and their families that were going through the same difficulties that a child's sexual abuse bring about.

When a family suffers from a trauma such as this, there were no real instructions for what course of action someone should take during the trials and tribulations that followed. What does a parent do after they receive the phone call nobody ever really wants to get? When a parent arrives at the scene of the crime, what happens next? What happens after the police leave the scene? What happens at the hospital? What happens at the courthouse and the hearings? What steps should be taken during the families recovery? What therapy should be looked into? What does the future hold for everyone involved?

While there is no perfect formula or answers, This book might act as a guide to the possibilities of what may help assist a parent to making better decisions or course of action that may help in recovery for any of the victims involved.

"I stand up from the stool and exit the examination room with my head down. I am defeated. I leave the room without a sound. My vision is blurred from tears and I can barely find the door handle. I enter the empty hallway and close the door behind me. I take a few steps across the hall, turn my back to the wall and slide down until I am sitting on the floor. My head falls onto my knees. I begin sobbing into my hands.

The questions echo in my head. Why? Why did you let them go? Why did this happen? How could he do this? How did this happen? Why didn't I listen? Why did I talk Lila into letting them go? The scenarios play over in my head. I hear my words again going over convincing Lila. I'm hurt, angry, upset, emotional and exhausted. All of the questions in my head have no real answers. I try desperately to control my emotions, but I am sobbing uncontrollably. I feel completely alone for the very first time. I have never felt pain like I did at that moment. It is truly beyond explanation."

Sexual assault is more common than you think. In fact, it is all too common and I would know because my daughter was sexually abused at the age of six, my son was a witness to some of the event and he was only nine years old.

My story began as a journal I started during the early stages of my recovery, however after struggling with the aftermath, I thought more people need to know about the difficulties involved in the recovery process.
Our family tried to find help any way we could but all we found was frustration because we could not find any material to reference during our healing. The hospitals, courts, lawmakers and therapists seemed to be more about the business than about the victims. These things need to change. Victims need a voice.
If you are a victim, I want to tell you that you are not alone in your fight for recovery, even if it feels like you are.

This crime has become a silent epidemic, but you do not have to suffer in silence. We need to shine a light on this crime and hopefully end this senseless tragedy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781078767033
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	02/14/2020
Edition description:	Surviving Sexual Abuse ed.
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

The author considers himself an ordinary father. He never considered himself a writer however, when circumstances throw him into the role of survivor of sexual abuse. This book began as a recovery journal but soon developed into this book to help other parent's get through one of the most difficult times of their lives.

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in Manchester, Connecticut, where he met and married the love of his life. They moved to the mid-coast of Maine to raise their three children. They eventually moved to Northern Aroostook County in Maine to be closer to their three beautiful granddaughters.

The career path he chose was mostly in the field of retail management, where he excelled for over thirty years. He has completed many years of middle management and has even achieved the role of general manager for local mid-coast video rental stores.

His hobbies have included football, baseball, hockey, video games and was a self-taught drummer in a classic rock band. He played with the same bass player (His best friend), for over twenty five years. He was on championship teams in football and hockey for multiple years and was voted onto the all-star team four years in a row.

During the course of years of therapy he encountered difficult times and had made several attempts to heal but could not find any release from the deep depression and PTSD symptoms. Every therapy session began with talk about the evening of the trauma and it's aftermath. After about thirty years of going through the same type of therapy, he realized things weren't working with the same as usual. So, he decided to talk matters into his own hands and told one of his therapists he was tired of the typical run of the mill type of "help". He told his therapist he was tired of re-living the trauma every time he was in a therapy session. He wanted to get beyond the worst day of his life. So, it was decided that they would only speak once of the actual trauma and after that they would only then talk about the ways of self help and coping skills for new ways to become a productive member of society, even while suffering from the severity of the symptoms of deep depression.

The PTSD symptoms were not only due to the sexual abuse, but also he was an insurance adjuster for a company that spoke daily to a company called Aon Risk Services. Aon Risk Services were located on the top two floors of the World Trade Center's twin towers. He never really recovered from that day