If you have adopted a child who has suffered from one of the more severe forms of child abuse, you might be at a loss about how to talk with your child about the abuse. People do not even want to acknowledge that these severe forms of abuse happen at all, so finding resources in helping your adopted child work through issues related to severe forms of abuse might be challenging. Finding a good therapist is always a wise idea.

Your child needs to talk about the abuse, and he needs you to listen. No matter how hard it is for you to hear about these abuses, your child needs you to hear him. He needs to see the look of horror on your face that anyone could ever do those things to a child, and he needs to hear you say repeatedly that the abuse was not his fault. Even more importantly, your child needs you to be able to look him in the eye and feel the same way about him after you know these things about him.

All forms of child abuse come with shame, but there is an added level of shame involved in some forms of abuse, such as same-sex sexual abuse or animal rape. Children who have suffered from animal rape may question whether they are even "human" after the experience. They need to hear you say that nothing that anyone ever did to them could change the value of who they are.

Related Topics:

• Animal rape
• Emotional abuse
• Mother-daughter sexual abuse
• Physical abuse
• Ritual abuse