U.S. Experts Share Their Experience in Treating Abused and Neglected Children

On September 5-12, the U.S. Embassy hosted  Dr. Barbara Bonner and Dr. Susan Schmidt, experts on child abuse and neglect prevention  from the University of Oklahoma.  The American specialists visited Belarus at the invitation of Ponimanie NGO within the framework of the U.S. Speaker Program.  The visitors were key note presenters at a two-day workshop on “Treating Traumatized Children:  Trauma Focused Behavioral Therapy” which brought together some 100 child psychiatrists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists from all over Belarus. The conference was sponsored by the Minsk City Children’s Psychiatry and Neurology Clinic and Ponimanie NGO.  Dr. Bonner and Dr. Smith also had a chance to interact with over 35 Belarusian forensic experts sharing with them their experience in running clinical and forensic interviews in child abuse cases. 

Along with addressing various groups of medical and forensic professionals, Dr. Bonner and Dr. Schmidt also were also invited to present on “The U.S. System of Support to Abused Children” and “Understanding and Treating Abused and Traumatized Children” at the Academy of Professional Upgrading and Belarusian State Pedagogical University, where they talked to over 200 undergraduate psychology students and faculty, school psychologists and counselors.  The Speakers’ presentations were received extremely well and were followed by a Q&A session.

The visit of Dr. Bonner and Dr. Schmidt  enabled the U.S. Embassy to once again highlight its support and cooperation with the Belarusian medical and NGO community engaged in preventing child abuse and providing counseling to traumatized children.