How family counseling services can contribute in cases involving HSB
The Family Counseling Office is a public service under the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir). It is a low-threshold service that offers free support to couples, parents, children, and families experiencing relational challenges and difficulties in interaction. The Family Counseling Office aims to strengthen safe family relationships, provide help in conflicts and crises, and ensure that the needs of children and young people are met. The service works in collaboration with other professionals and agencies, such as child and adolescent mental health services, child welfare services, district courts, Children’s Advocacy Centers, and others.
Guidance for parents and caregivers
Parents and caregivers can talk about the incident(s), manage reactions within the family, and receive help in creating a sense of safety. They can receive guidance on how to support the child, regardless of whether the child is the one affected or the one who carried out the behavior. In cases involving sibling sexual abuse (including step-siblings), it may feel especially important to have a space where one can speak freely. The Family Counseling Service also provides advice on how to strengthen relationships within couples, create a sense of safety for siblings, and help the family cope with the situation and find a way forward. The service emphasizes supporting and strengthening parents’ caregiving competence and offers guidance on structure, boundaries, and communication.
Family sessions and relational work
The Family Counseling Office offers family sessions. Who participates will depend on what the therapists consider appropriate in the situation. The purpose of the sessions is, among other things, to help adults recognize and take responsibility in the situation that has arisen. This involves creating a safe home environment for all children in the family, including the one who has displayed harmful sexual behavior. It also involves helping to develop and strengthen positive family interaction and working to rebuild trust. There are often complex reasons why a child or adolescent has exhibited harmful sexual behavior, and understanding these factors can be important for determining what is needed to create a stable and supportive environment for the children and young people in the family.
Some children may need to move out temporarily
In serious cases, it is possible that the child who has displayed harmful behavior may need to move out for a period, possibly together with one of the caregivers. This can evoke a range of emotions within the family, and in such situations the Family Counseling Service can be particularly valuable.
Offering restorative conversations
Family Counseling Offices also have extensive experience in mediation in family conflicts. This may be particularly relevant if a child has violated others within the same (extended) family. We know that in cases involving sibling sexual abuse, there are often many difficult emotions to process among those affected. In such cases, the Family Counseling Service may also collaborate with specialist services such as Resource Unit V27 in Bergen, the Regional Resource Centers on Violence, Traumatic Stress and Suicide Prevention (RVTS), or consultation teams such as Rebessa. These have specialized expertise in restorative conversations in such cases.
Conversations with children and young people
Children and young people can be offered their own sessions where they can express their thoughts and experiences in a safe way. This is equally important for the child who has engaged in sexually harmful behavior as for the child who has been subjected to such actions. If the child is also receiving treatment within child and adolescent mental health services, it is common for therapists to collaborate on the focus of the work in the different settings.
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