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Feeling alone and victimized, both by the crime and by the legal system, is common among parents of children who have been abused or molested. But a new support group gives those parents a way to share their feelings, problems and solutions with others in similar circumstances.
Likewise, a similar support group for female adolescent victims of abuse or molestation will help teenage girls deal with their feelings and emotions.
Both groups were organized by the Bowen Center in cooperation with Warsaw's and Kosciusko County's victim's assistance coordinators. Their purpose is to serve as forums where parents or teenagers can bring their concerns and find comfort in the fact that they are not alone.
The groups will meet at the Bowen Center, but their direction and operation will be left to the participants. A Bowen Center staff member will attend each group, but only to make sure things stay on an even keel.
"None of us are going to be sitting there as therapists - it's their group and they're free to run it as they want," said Mary, a therapist at the Bowen Center. "The therapy comes from the universal knowledge that they're not alone."
Group members are "not considered Bowen Center clients - we're just offering them a facility to meet," said Dawn Wilson, crisis prevention liaison. Membership, or attendance, is free, Mary said, and the groups of 10 to 12 people each could meet for anywhere from one to six months.
The victim's assistance coordinators are relieved that support is finally available for two groups that have not had much help in this area.
"It's something that's so desperately needed," said Lisa Eckert, Kosciusko County's victim's assistance coordinator. "We have kids we can get into counseling and get help, and they start to bounce back. But parents have to deal with the system, and they either don't go to counseling or they can't afford it."
"Having the support groups gives me a great option, it helps me do my job," said Warsaw's victim's assistance coordinator, Becky Moreno. "It's frustrating not to have somewhere to send them. I can say, 'You need counseling' all I want, but that's not an option that's always available to them."
Moreno was especially excited about the group for teenage girls, she said, because nothing like it has ever been offered in this area.
"That's such a tough age - they feel they're so alone in everything they do," she said. "It would be nice to let them work through it now before it has to affect the rest of their lives."
Wilson said the support groups will start meeting as soon as enough people sign up; the meetings are tentatively scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays.
Bowen Center staff also can help with child care concerns during the support group meetings, Wilson said, and can arrange for more individualized attention and flexible payment schedules.
Eckert and Moreno are optimistic that the intended membership of the support groups will find the group atmosphere helpful and reassuring.
"The original offense was hard enough, and to just be thrown out there with nothing is just devastating," Moreno said.
For more information about the two support groups, contact Wilson at 267-7169 or 800-342-5653, ext. 341.
