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Oakland Child Abuse Therapy Therapist

Matthew 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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Oakland Child Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse can go on for years before a community member will identify it and intervene. Often sexual child abusers will threaten children to remain silent. This form of abuse often goes untreated and unreported, particularly sexual abuse of male children, because of the tremendous sense of shame and responsibility that victims often feel for the crime.

As with emotional and verbal abuse, the abuser may come across to family, friends, and community as an outstanding or exceptional person. This form of abuse is often more complicated than physical or emotional abuse, because often the abuser and victim will share positive experiences and closeness in other areas of their lives. Sometimes victims of sexual abuse will feel confused and conflicted because the stimulation may feel pleasurable, even though nothing else about it does.

In young children, sexual abuse will often show up in their play. Children will act out sexual themes or discuss sexual topics with other children far beyond their developmental level, and may masturbate. Older children, particularly teens and pre-teens, may act out sexual behavior with several partners, often partners who are much older, if not adults. Often children who have been abused themselves will in turn sexually abuse other children. Frequently the child whom these children abuse will be the same age as the original victim was when the original abuse occurred.

Therapy for sexual abuse has to first focus on working through any shame, as well as on building a safe relationship of trust in which a child can feel comfortable with a therapist. In Oakland, I work extensively not only with childhood victims of sexual abuse, but also with adult survivers or sexual abuse, sexual assault, rape, and stalking.

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Child Abandonment and Neglect in Oakland

Children who have been abandoned or severely neglected often develop serious emotional and behavioral problems, the most common of which is reactive attachment disorder. This is a disorder that results from a child not having a safe and reliable relationship with a caregiver for much of their life. This disorder is common among children of severely drug or alcohol addicted parents, who are unable to care for their children. It is also common in more severe forms of child abuse, where a child may be locked up or left alone for extended periods of time.

Children with reactive attachment disorder either attempt to bond and connect with literally anyone they meet, or they are so withdrawn and mistrustful that they refuse to connect with anyone. They also commonly lie, steal, cheat, disobey, and have a very low ability to handle frustration, pay attention, or complete tasks.

I am happy to help you build a safe and loving home to help Oakland children with reactive attachment disorder.

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Oakland Child Abuse Therapy

I treat child abuse with play and art therapy, family and conjoint family therapy, narrative EMDR child focused family therapy, and Somatic Experiencing interventions for caregivers. I find that these trauma-focused interventions are the best ways of helping children and families recover from child abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

I encourage you to visit the links above to the pages that describe the techniques I use in my Oakland therapy practice.

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Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse in Oakland

  • Did you suffer from childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional or verbal abuse, neglect, or abandonment?
  • Have you tried therapy in the past that didn't work, or have you hoped the problem would go away?
  • Are "new" memories surfacing as you get older?

If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, you owe it to yourself to find help from an experienced Oakland sexual abuse therapist like myself.

I not only help child survivors of abuse in Oakland, but also adults. I use research-based and cutting edge techniques such as EMDR and Somatic Experiencing that help people recover from childhood abuse as adults.

You deserve to feel better and whole.

Call 415-820-1487 for a free phone consultation.

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