ABSTRACT
Siblings of the sexually victimized child experience profound changes in their family when parental child sexual abuse is discovered. Disclosure or discovery of the abuse is a profound crisis for the whole family and a time of extreme anxiety for the siblings. Tactics directed to the siblings are undertaken for a different purpose to those directed against the harmed child, though often similar to those directed towards the mother. The primary purpose of work with siblings is to break down the shame and isolation that parental child sexual abuse brings to the harmed child and re-build enduring, protective relationships between the child and her siblings. An unanticipated, but nonetheless significant impact on siblings is that they often lose contact with the harming father's family, the children's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Siblings can be a critical part of creating safety for the victimized child as well as contributing significantly to her recovery.
