The failure by senior government officials to condemn Hastert is matched by the health care media and professional health associations’ failure to report the health consequences resulting from childhood sexual abuse.

This past April 8^th federal prosecutors made known former Republican House Speaker, Denis Hastert, sexually molested at least four boys while employed as an Illinois high school wrestling coach beginning in the 1960s. Prosecutors said there was “no ambiguity” about these abuses. They were, they said, “known acts.”[1] While the news was disturbing, sexual and all other forms of child abuse is commonplace.

This blog is a continuation of Blue Knot Foundation's literature review [1] of best approaches to working with adult survivors of child abuse and neglect. Anyone working with survivors are encouraged to read both posts (Best Way to Work with Survivors - Part 1).

The Blue Knot Foundation, formerly known as ASCA (Adults Surviving Child Abuse) did an extensive literature review on the needs of adult survivors of child abuse and neglect.[1] The following principles are important and should be incorporated into standard practice guidelines for professionals working with adult survivors.

The NIMH has studied the difference between how depressed mothers relate to their children versus healthy mothers. Studies have shown that depressed mothers are more likely to be critical of their children and less likely to talk to them, except under mildly stressful situations, when the depressed mothers tend to overreact. [1] Depressed mothers are more likely to interact with their children because of something within themselves, rather than in response to something the child does or says, and as a result the child has little sense of what to expect.