Children Who Witness Abuse Program

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 02 March 2010 16:26

Mothers who have experienced abuse face many challenges in making healthy changes for their families. These challenges may include dealing with parental custody and access issues, single parenting, dealing with behavioural problems or concerns, talking to children about what has happened in the family and helping children to cope with their feelings in a healthy and constructive way.

Mothers may also be afraid that people will judge them negatively for leaving the relationship and breaking up the family, or for not leaving the relationship sooner. They may be hoping that the children did not actually witness the abuse or that they will "get over it in time." Mothers may not know how to talk to children about things that have happened in the family, or be afraid of saying the wrong things. The Children Who Witness Abuse Program can support you in a compassionate and non-judgmental way to work through these kinds of challenges and re-gain your confidence as a parent.

There's no denying it: abuse in the family has serious impacts on children. Children see, hear and understand much more than adults realize. Many children who witness abuse are also physically, emotionally or sexually abused themselves. Children who witness abuse in the family are at much higher risk of growing up to become a victim or abuser.

There is a lot of support available to children through the Shelter. Given the opportunity and guidance, children are easily able to learn new ways of behaving and communicating. The sooner they are helped by caring adults, the more opportunities they will have to recover from their negative life experiences.

The Children Who Witness Abuse Program offers hope for the future by working with children to break cycles of abuse in families. CWWA also works with parents and caregivers to support them in specific challenges around parenting after abuse has occurred in the family.

Children who witness abuse in their families need a safe place to talk about their feelings and learn healthy coping skills. The Children Who Witness Abuse (CWWA) Program offers individual and group counseling for children and teens age 3-18 who have experienced abuse in the family. Anyone can refer a child to the program, and there is no cost for services.

For more information on the Children Who Witness Abuse Program, contact the Program Coordinator by calling 250-763-1040 or e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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