Child Group Therapy

The effects on children who are age five and older are a little different than those who are under the age of 5 and may affect areas involving psychological, social, physical, behavioral, and learning. The psychological effects of domestic violence include separation anxiety, low self-esteem, distress, PTSD and suicidal thoughts or attempts. The social effects may include aggressive play, isolation and bullying. The physical effects include bed-wetting and enuresis, hunger, and sickness. The behavioral effects may include extreme outbursts, poor attention and poor concentration. Finally, the learning effects may include delayed language and cognitive skills as well as not attending school (Sterne and Poole 36-37). So, while both age ranges may be affected the same in some areas those

There are several services that are available for children who witness or are effected by domestic violence including counseling, supervised visitation and exchange, and shelters. There are four types of counseling that are available to children. The first is play therapy which is for children who are not able to talk yet or who are afraid to speak about their experiences. Play therapy allows the child to express themselves and what happened through playing or drawing. The second type of counseling is psychoeducational group therapy by age; this therapy helps teach children about domestic violence to them change their beliefs that the abuse between their parents is their fault. The third type of counseling is sibling group therapy; this therapy allows siblings to work together to solve problems related to witnessing the abuse as well as allow them to be with people they trust. The fourth type of counseling is child parent psychotherapy which is a 10-week program that is led by a male and female therapist. The group usually begins with an activity and then two major topics are covered; the topics include confronting false beliefs that the children are