Hope

My job is about hope

There is an inevitable moment when people ask me what I do for a living, and I hear, “Oh that’s so sad.” Yes, child sexual abuse and suicide are terribly sad and tragic events. But my job is not sad because I get to work to prevent these tragedies. I started my career as a children’s therapist at a rape crisis center. I was a fresh-faced grad student excited to use the therapeutic skills I had learned. And then I received my first referral. A family where multiple kids had been sexually abused by a teen family member who had also been abused for years by multiple older family members. A family in constant turmoil because of substance abuse, domestic violence, untreated mental illness, poverty and generational trauma. Sadly, this family was not the exception among those I saw. Many of the kids and families I saw each week were dealing with multiple traumas and adversity. Not only were these kids horrifically violated sexually, but they were also living through issues that children should never have to navigate. Parents with substance abuse issues, domestic violence in their home, bullying at school, shootings outside their front door, not having food in their house or having to give up their most treasured things because their family was getting evicted. Often during my time as a therapist, I felt hopeless and helpless. How could I help these kids when they were facing so much? I felt like I was standing in front of a burning house with an eye dropper of water. So when I had the opportunity to move into prevention, I was very excited. I was finally able to do something to get in front of these issues and – hopefully – keep kids from ever having to walk through another therapist’s door. I felt hope.

The programs we provide at the Indiana Center for Prevention are primary prevention strategies – the focus is on giving adults and youth the tools they need to prevent sexual abuse and suicide from ever happening in the first place. When we give youth the skills to protect themselves and others, they are empowered. When all the adults that surround a child are taught how to keep that child safe, we create a circle of safety around every child. Within that circle, children can thrive instead of just survive.