Faces of the Children We Serve

The children of Domestic Violence who come to us have been witness to violent aggression within their own homes. Seeing a loved one abused alters their inherent foundation of trust and shakes the core of what they perceive to be love. When domestic violence occurs within a family, our community partners go to the forefront, offering counseling and justice to victims and abusers alike. But, the real healing does not start until a family can be mended. That is when we step in.

These children come to us confused, scared but also hopeful that the broken bonds between themselves and the parent they love can be healed. Through parental coaching in a safe environment, we work to facilitate communication and healthy interaction between the child and parent while directing the parent on appropriate behavior and giving them tools to repair past damage.

The children of Addiction come to us riddled with feelings of abandonment, unworthiness and even blame. When a child's attempts to bond with an addicted parent are thwarted, the result is confusion and intense anxiety. These children must develop "survival skills" in order to survive in a home devoid of healthy parental love, limits, and consistency. By the time a parent seeks professional help; their children have often become mistrustful and old beyond their years

These children come to us expecting little from the parent that they believe left them for drugs and alcohol. Our professional staff work with these children to provide an environment of open communication to ask the hard questions of their parent and begin the process of healing and closure of past hurts. Our counselors assist the parents on knowing boundaries and helping them forge a new relationship with their child.

Children of High-Conflict Separation are frequently used as pawns in the emotional demolition of a union where a partnership ends and war begins. Stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war, they suffer a range of symptoms from depression and behavioral regression to alienation from a parent and stunted communication. Each child comes to us feeling overwhelmed by the constant conflict as often times parents are unable to separate adult issues from child-rearing issues.

At Parenting Time Center, we work to create a schedule and environment free of parental drama through safe exchanges of children and supervised visitation. Our staff maintain this peaceful atmosphere by directing parents away from adult conversations about adult issues. Without the worry of further conflict, children can get back to the important task of just being a kid and having time with their parent, free of conflict.

Children of Military Scars watch Mom or Dad leave them to serve their country and come back a stranger. Confusion and hurt run rampant through families when a parent suffers the ravages of war and comes back emotionally impaired, unable to give love to their children in the manner he or she did before. Suffering from PTSD and emotional numbness, these parents cannot resume the role of a loving, stable father or mother until they seek professional help. The children, in turn, feel abandoned and powerless, taking blame on themselves for their parent's indifference to their needs and desire to be loved.

Parents come to us desperate to begin resuming the role of a loving parent. Through gentle coaching and facilitating open communication, our staff works to reintroduce parents and children to a relationship of trust and love. This not only aims to heal the hurts of the child but heal the emotional scars of the parent.