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Oakland Child Abuse Therapy Therapist

Matt Lindgren offers therapy for Oakland child and adult survivors of physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as domestic violence, abandonment, and neglect.

Oakland Therapy for Child Abuse

Children who have been abused require quality mental health care perhaps more than any other group of people, not only because they tend to suffer more from mental health problems, but also because with the right care and interventions in their lives they can heal.

Children can be very resilient. In order to heal from abuse, they need safe and caring caregiver and adults in their lives with whom they build life-long relationships.

Through my Oakland therapy practice, I am happy to help your child build the relationships he or she needs to heal, while providing the very best clinical therapy to make the most of those relationships.

I help children in Oakland recover from physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse - including the witnessing of domestic violence, sexual abuse, abandonment, and neglect. I am able to recieve funding for most of my work with children through the Victim Compensation Program, and can help you or your child apply.

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Child Physical Abuse in Oakland

Children are considered to be physically abused when they are hit, burned, or otherwise harmed physically. Of all forms of abuse, law enforcement is most likely to intervene when a child is being physically abused, because the abuse is often easy to document in a criminal proceeding. Chances are if you're seeking therapy for a child who has been physically abused, then that child has been involved with Child and Family Protective Services and possibly the foster care system.

As with all forms of child abuse, physical abuse will often lead toward the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, as well as a variety of other anxiety disorders and behavioral problems.

I am happy to work with you and your child to recover from physical abuse through my Oakland therapy practice.

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Oakland Child Verbal and Emotional Abuse

Verbal and emotional child abuse is one of the most damaging forms of abuse, mostly because children are never able to recieve outside validation that they've been abused. Adults who practice this form of abuse alone rarely encounter any form of resistance from teachers, community leaders, or law enforcement. Often abusers appear to the outside world as model citizens. It is almost impossible to document psychological damages to a child from verbal and emotional abuse in a criminal proceeding, and so this form of abuse is almost never investigated or prosecuted.

Verbal and emotional abuse cuts to the very core of a child's sense of confidence and well-being. It teaches them horrific distortions about their worth, the world, and their likelihood of a good future. Because the abuse often comes from adults who are well-liked in the community, this "stamp of approval" can lead a child to feel as if he or she really is responsible for the abuse and that the hurtful and cruel statements are true.

I am happy to help children in Oakland with therapy that addresses the wounds of emotional and verbal abuse.

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Children and Domestic Violence in Oakland

Perhaps the one exception to the lack of prosecution or support around emotional abuse comes from California law regarding domestic violence. In an effort to help protect children, California law considers it child abuse when a child is a witness to domestic violence. Consequently, Children and Family Services does investigate when a child is a witness to domestic violence, and will sometimes place children in foster care to protect them. Children who witness domestic violence are severely abused. They have to watch as an adult who they love is put at risk of pain, suffering, or even death.

I work extensively with adults who are victims of domestic violence as well as their children in Oakland. I am able to recieve funding for much of my work from the California Victim Compensation Program, and can help you and your child apply for these funds.

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