Protecting Your Children from Sexual Predators
More than one million American families reported cases of sexual abuse in 2000. The perpetrators of these acts come in all shapes and sizes...
I have spent my entire professional career studying, treating, and writing about child sexual abuse. I have extensive professional experience in the wide spectrum of sexual abuse from the predator to the child victim. In the past thirty years, I have witnessed rise and fall of sexual abuse Sexual abuse seems to dip in […]
SPECIAL ISSUE EVALUATIONS CONDUCTING COURT ORDERED ASSESSMENTS FOR ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH CONFLICT DIVORCE A majority of child sexual assaults are never reported to the police. From those children who do report abuse, a small percentage of those children make false allegations. The statistics vary from state to state, […]
EVALUATING CASES OF FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE IN CHILDREN BY DR. LEIGH M. BAKER A majority of children tell the truth when it comes to allegations of sexual abuse. However, for the minority of children who present with allegations of abuse in high conflict divorce or custody situations, it is often up […]
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE AN ALIENATED PARENT Perhaps the worst thing that could happen to a parent is the loss of a child. The death of a child brings grieving that has no words, tears that never end, and a hole in a parent’s heart that will never mend. Death is not the […]
Unconscious Transmission of Trauma in Young Children Alleging Sexual Abuse A growing number of sexual abuse allegations in young children occur every day in the context of high conflict divorce or custody cases. These cases cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, and countless hours of legal and mental health professionals’ time […]
HELP! MY CHILD’S HOMEWORK IS DESTROYING OUR FAMILY! Throughout years of working with children and their families, I have heard well-meaning parents make countless complaints about their children’s homework. Grievances such as: “I don’t understand how to do so much of this, I can’t help my child.” ” I […]
Why Children Make False Allegations about Sexual Abuse By Leigh M. Baker, Psy.D. I recently read a harrowing account of the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. For a little over 9 months, this New England settlement was bombarded by allegations of male and female witches flying on their broomsticks to attend […]
IS YOUR PRESCHOOLER’S SEX PLAY IS NORMAL Throughout my 28 years of practice I have seen a considerable number of children who engaged in sexual play with other children. Parents bring their children into my office anxious about the possibility that their child was perpetrating sexual abuse or was a victim of abuse. In this […]
FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: TALKING TO YOUR CHILD IN A CONFLICT-FREE MANNER Childhood is not an easy time of life. Most of us forget this, although if you stop for a few moments and reflect on your childhood, you are sure to remember the occasional sense of helplessness, loss of control, anger, and disappointments that […]
SHOULD PARENTS WORRY: THE LATEST SCOOP ON VIDEO GAMES AND THEIR IMPACT ON CHILDREN When I started my practice almost thirty years ago, Sesame Street and the benign Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood captured our children’s attention. Disney movies proliferated the video market and they followed a similar fairy tale pattern in which a hero or […]
A victim of one of the recent disasters that has struck our country wrote to ask me why she is feeling so much guilt over surviving when others were wounded or had family members killed. Survivor’s guilt is common. So common in fact that it was labeled a symptom in an older version of the Diagnostic […]
Ask Dr. Leigh: Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse “I am an adult survivor of long term sexual abuse and trauma. Is there hope for me that I can ever heal from so much pain?” Over the past twenty-seven years, countless survivors of childhood trauma and sexual abuse have asked me this question. They wonder, […]
Ask Dr. Leigh: What can I do if I suspect my child is a Victim of Parental Alienation? This question has come to my attention countless times throughout the years. The majority of them have come from fathers, divorced and desperately trying to maintain some type of connection with their children. Others are […]
I had a number of responses last week asking about the impact of the Boston Marathon bombing on children. Parents are concerned, “what do I say to my children when they see the images of this disaster on television, or overhear other children talking about it?” How do we explain such madness and evil to […]
“You have been practicing child psychology for over 26 years. What changes in the children have you seen over these years?” mother of a five-year old son and a 10 year-old daughter. What a wonderful reflective question. It caused me to go back over the years and remember the children who have graced my playroom. Thousands […]
More than one million American families reported cases of sexual abuse in 2000. The perpetrators of these acts come in all shapes and sizes...