How do I get a 5year old boy to talk about his possible abuse or molestation when his mother left his father and he was cared for by different adult men? I want to help this young person he looks up to me and has told me about being beaten by these men and he is now acting out like wetting the bed and smearing stool on the walls. Upon speaking with him he told me that he was scared and the bed was beating him that is why he did what he did. I feel that this young boys curious nature about the male body may have placed him in a dangerous situation.
I'm not a professional, but I feel that trying to heal someone on your own who has gone through such a traumatic experience might be akin to prescribing and handing out medication with out a PHD. Be there for him, but he will likely need a professional counselor to help him with the varied emotional effects that this was likely to have on him. You and I can (I hope) not even come close to imagining or foreseeing all the various facets of what it is like to be him. You don't need to get any more inforamtion out of him before taking him to a councellor. You know enough to know needs one. How to find one is another matter. Your best bet might be through a children's aid type program. You could even ask a local school to recomend resourses to help you find him help. Look online for childrens aid programs in your area, or call the children's help line.
