Chapter 7: Satanic Panic

        I was going into this final week’s chapter on The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog expecting to read an optimistic and hopeful outcome to the totality of all of the previous trauma and pain, yet I was unexpectedly disappointed, foreshadowed by the title of the chapter 7, Satanic Panic. This chapter honestly left me without words. I went from taking a nap in the middle of reading the chapter (to remove myself from the difficult and enraging content I was reading), saying expletives out loud (from the shock and horror), to wanting to throw the book across the room (as a physical act denouncing the exposed aberrations). When I finally finished this crazy chapter, I had to do some yoga to zen the hell out. Which got me thinking about self care, that I had to practice, even after just reading about this case. I wonder what Dr. Perry did and does, to practice self-care and not experience compassion fatigue throughout his thousands of cases. He must be doing something really effective cause I could not…

            I have never heard of “holding” therapy (or “holding” for short) and was horrified that this was an actual therapy that was used on youth (and hoping that this NOT practiced anymore). Dr. Perry says it all by saying, “This should go without saying, but holding a child down and hurt him until he says what you want to hear does not create bonds of affection but, rather, induces obedience through fear” (p. 164). The fact that Dr. Perry even had to say this or think this, makes me cringe because these were professionals who were using this tactic on innocent children. Professionals! Who probably thought they were doing something good! How could this have been approved?! This is like the acceptability of lashings, beatings, whippings of African American slaves to coerce, manipulate, and oppress them. It seems like most professionals working with children treated them like foreign objects that no one really understood, and it was probably true, since brain research was still developing. And yet, I still seem to think this as a justification for this therapy to be used on children.

What I appreciated most about these 23 pages was Dr. Perry’s clarification that talking about trauma in a child’s (or adults) life doesn’t equal that they will have a full recovery. This is explained in a study his team conducted asserting that children who had to talk about their trauma in therapy had increased chances of developing PTSD, from the coercion. Discussing trauma in fact could be harmful and retraumatizing. But I guess that wasn’t known back then and I wonder if I was a therapist working in that time period, if my values and honor of children would have made me really question and investigate the validity of this “therapy”. Did these case workers/investigators really think they were “helping” children?!

            Although, this chapter was a downer, it re-emphasized my intention and commitment to serving youth. With these last 15 years of research and development of neurobiology which has helped us understand the youth developing brain, the impact of adverse childhood experiences, and trauma, it has allowed us to become more competent serving agents for youth. Our communities need us to present on this information because most people are not aware of this. It is up to us to advocate for children and youth that continue to be harmed by the adultism views of our society. I have a responsibility as a professional to share this with teachers, parents, school faculty and beyond to make sure that youth are being served in the best way possible so that the future looks brighter for every youth to come.