In the near future, we hope to activate a state of the art abuse prevention and treatment program , which will be called, "Delet Ptucha"-Project Open Door.
Project Open Door דלת פתוחה was conceptualized by Satya B. Laren, Ph.D., a frum New York and Florida State licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with children and families in crisis, and with survivors of early childhood abuse. דלת פתוחה means Open Door. Ours is truly an open door where children and families are welcomed, and assisted in a respectful manner.
Our focus: outreach to children and families who have concerns about possible abuse or are, in fact, facing the adversities of abuse. Our professionals will assess each situation carefully and offer appropriate care. Our goals: to assist children and their families with these concerns, to foster prevention of child abuse through education, and to work towards the recovery and resilience of the survivor of abuse, as well as that of their families. No one will be turned away because of lack of funds. We understand it takes the concerted effort of many people—parents, educators, religious leaders, child development professionals, child protection workers– to successfully undertake a commitment for the protection of children.
About Us – Executive Director
Dr. Laren is a licensed psychologist in New York State, and Florida. Throughout her tenure, she has presented extensively to the academic communities on the assessment, management and treatment of individuals and family crisis and trauma.
In 2010, Dr. Laren was appointed director of the Child and Family Support Program, a child advocacy center, in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine which focuses on issues of child abuse and neglect.
In 2008, Dr. Laren was appointed Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics and Psychiatry departments of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and served as consultant to pediatric and psychiatry fellows involving crisis, trauma and loss.
In 2007, she designed and implemented a one-year training program for doctoral students in clinical psychology within the Child and Family Support Program in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The training’s exclusive focus: the assessment and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The goal: restoring and strengthening coping mechanisms that lead to excellent levels of social and emotional functioning.
In 2004, Dr. Laren served as psychologist and Clinical Instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and served as consultant in the Pediatrics and Psychiatry in and outpatient departments.
Immediately following the September 11 attacks, Dr. Laren provided trauma recovery treatment to first responders and their families.
From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Laren served as staff psychologist, clinical supervisor, and faculty at the Karen Horney Trauma Center, and during this time she began her private practice.
Dr. Laren earned her Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, her Master’s and Ph.D. from Adelphi University where her dissertation on differences in the expression of emotions in fluent bilinguals was nominated for the Farber Prize Award.
Dr. Laren is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Society of Trauma Studies, International Society for the Study of Dissociation, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and on the Advisory Board and member of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators.
Clinical Staff--Dr Laren will surround herself with other
clinical psychologists licensed in the state of New York and experienced in the assessment and treatment of crisis and trauma, specifically related to issues of abuse. These professionals will be knowledgeable and sensitive to the concerns of Jewish Orthodox culture.
Doctoral students in Clinical Psychology enrolled in APA-accredited doctoral clinical psychology graduate programs and interested in fulfilling a clinical requirement by focusing in the area of child abuse will be enrolled in a teaching program to be taught by Dr Laren and other leaders in this field. This ongoing one year program will provide a thorough background for those psychologists desiring to become more expert in the field of abuse prevention, assessment, and treatment.
Our Advisory Board
A group of six rabbis will be convened to serve as an advisory board to collaborate with the program director, Dr. Laren, and her staff in the initial assessment of children and families who present to Open Door/Delet P’tuchah פתוחה דלת with concerns of abuse. They will help make rapid evaluations as to which children should begin immediate therapy, which cases should be reported to law-enforcement authorities in a timely fashion, and under what circumstances parents need to be advised of events that have occurred and measures needed to protect other children possibly exposed to the offending person or persons.
We will provide cell phones for these rabbis to be on call for consultations on a emergency basis, 24/6.
For Parents:
Prevention through Education. We will provide lectures in person and internet pointers and advice, to help parents detect and even prevent abuse of their dear children.
Prevention through Education. We will provide lectures in person and internet pointers and advice, to help parents detect and even prevent abuse of their dear children.
For educators:
We will provide educator-appropriate detailed tutoring of principals, teachers, rebbes, moros, etc., again with the goal of preventing abuse, decreasing the unacceptably high incidence of abuse in Orthodox Jewish educational and camp environments, and orienting educational professionals on procedures to follow when abuse has occurred.
For Children
We will provide age-appropriate, religiously sensitive sessions to children on all grade levels, all designed to decrease in a major way the horribly high incidence of abuse in our Jewish educational and religious institutions.
The internet is admittedly a dangerous vehicle which must be regulated heavily through parental controls. But children of all ages seem to be gaining more and more access to it. We want to use the internet for the good of the young people of Klal Yisro-l. To that end, we will set up an internet hot-line staffed by both psychologists and rabbis, that no parent need be afraid of, whereby children who fear early stages of abuse can report it to us early, quickly, and anonymously if desired. Parents and educators can also utilize this computer hot line. We will have our psychological experts respond to all email/internet inquiries rapidly. We will also have our rabbinic advisors available 24/6 to respond to children, parents, educational professionals, etc.
No child should ever again feel alone when confronted by the specter or the ogres of abuse--we will be quickly available to them via internet. Hopefully, this will also cut back on the incidence and sequealae of abuse: drug addiction, becoming teenagers at risk, and even suicide.
Treatment
We promise the Orthodox Jewish world that no child will ever be turned away from receiving appropriate treatment because of lack of family ability to pay. Those who can pay fully, will be asked to do so. Those who can pay reduced fees will also be asked to do so. Those who cannot afford any payments, will be given the exact same caliber of treatments as the paying patients-ABSOLUTELY FREE.
The only thing preventing our getting started immediately, is the age-old problem of money.
We need approximately $100,000 seed money to get started in a meaningful way. Won't all of you come forward with meaningul contributions? This is literally Pikuach Nefesh and Hatzolas Nefoshos. Please respond soon, respond generously and ask your friends, relatives, and neighbors to also respond. There is no program in the Orthodox Jewish world more urgent than this one.
It’s hard to face the disappointing fact that someone we know, like–and even love–might be a sexual predator. However, the statistical data is accurate. Abusers abuse repeatedly. An average pedophile will offend 200-400 times before getting caught. One in 5 girls will be sexually abused before her 16th birthday. One in 6 boys will be abused before he is 18. Only one in 10 will tell. According to the FBI, only one in 10 cases is reported to law enforcement.
The National Children’s Alliance reports that in 2012 among the over 262,000 alleged offenders investigated for instances of child abuse:
125,129 were related or known to the child victim in another way
22,055 were an unrelated person the victim knew, and:
147,005 were 18+ years old
25,756 were ages 13 to 17 years
18,227 were under age 13 years
Pedophiles’ narratives/confessions are filled with details as to how they exert enormous energies building trust with their victims. Because this period known as “grooming” takes time, the perpetrators focus on several groups of children in schools, sports clubs, camps, communities, and families. This actually gives an appropriate prevention program a golden window of opportunity to terminate the abuse even before it occurs. Therefore, you MUST:
Educate your child
Be wary but calm when communicating with your child
Talk to your child, calmly, about personal safety. Usually around the age of 3, you can begin to role play scenarios about body ownership, and boundaries setting. As your child gets older, you can talk about occasions when people, even adults, feel uncomfortable around people they know—sometimes for “no apparent” reason. Tell your child to tell you about the discomfort he or she feels around certain people, assuring them you will take care of it.
Talk to your child, calmly, if you notice that he or she is uncharacteristically uncomfortable or rejects closeness to a neighbor, close friend of the family, relative, respected member of the community.
Ask questions, calmly, about gifts, treats, special favors your child may be receiving from an adult or teen.
Be wary, and openly communicate through calm and concerned questions if anybody, including teachers, coaches, counselors, youth group leaders, doctors, babysitters, relatives ever meets with your child in a private room with a closed door for any reason or goes off to any place where they are alone.
If a child discloses sexual abuse, respond calmly, supportively and reassuringly. Let your child know you will stop it immediately. Do not tell the child he or she should have told you sooner as it will be a reason for her or him to feel blamed.
Do not confront the alleged perpetrator. They are masters of deception, and your child will feel you did not believe the disclosure.
Do what will insure your child’s safety. Reach out to those who can best help your child and your family. Open Door/Delet P’tuchah פתוחה דלת will hopefully soon be ready to assist you. Lectures & Workshops will be available to address issues of child abuse. We also will offer small informative groups, support groups, and psychotherapy groups where families feel free to ask, share, and process the experience they are facing.
For Rabbanim/Religious Leaders
Child abuse is real and it occurs in every community regardless of age, gender, racial, religious affiliation, and/or socio-economic strata. We have listed the national statistics. These numbers, based on reported cases, are staggering. While we would like to think that we are different, that our children are not abused, that our family members, our teachers, our camp counselors, our family friends would never hurt us, we know differently.
Religious leaders can play a critical role in the protection of our children. Thier interventions can be effective and sustainable as they come from deep-seated commitments to higher causes and, as evidenced in our religious texts and tenets, there is an ethical obligation to care for and protect children. Because religious leaders are able to enter the family sphere in a way and to a depth that outsiders are unable to, they can be a conduit and agent for change and meaningfully positive transformations in the lives of our children and their families.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, we are aware of the lack of communication and coordination between religious communities and outside child protection agencies. In some cases there is an absence of a systematic code of appropriate conduct regarding children and child protection, particularly in emergency situations. Assumptions about different groups, rigidity of ideological positions, to name a few, can sometimes impact the ability or willingness to get involved effectively and collaboratively in new, sensitive issues affecting children, e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse, physical or sexual abuse.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, rabbis and psychologists will work closely with the alleged victim and with the family to first ascertain the accuracy of the claim. If after the initial assessments there is a need for further investigation by a child protection agency, this will be discussed in detail with the family. Our psychologists and rabbis will offer ongoing support to the child and his or her family throughout the investigative and therapeutic process.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, we are committed to making sure that Halacha tenets are observed. We ALL are compelled to exercise caution and avoid slander against innocent individuals. Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה will be staffed by specialized professionals whose first concern is to determine the accuracy of the claims. This group of dedicated professionals will be comprised of clinical psychologists and six rabbis who, while keenly aware of adult behaviors that cause substantial harm to children’s well being, recognize that the veracity of the reports must be unquestionable.
As mentioned, we need seed money to get our program started. Please, please help us to help the children of the frum world overcome the scourge of sexual abuse that is all too rampant in our world which should be totally holy, and intolerant of such abuse. We are asking for contributions, small and large, to enable this program to accomplish major victories in the ugly fight for the Neshamos of our children. Won't you join us and help till it hurts financially, and until it stops hurting re the abuse our children are suffering?!
In the near future, we hope to activate a state of the art abuse prevention and treatment program , which will be called, "Delet Ptucha"-Project Open Door.
Project Open Door דלת פתוחה was conceptualized by Satya B. Laren, Ph.D., a frum New York and Florida State licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with children and families in crisis, and with survivors of early childhood abuse. דלת פתוחה means Open Door. Ours is truly an open door where children and families are welcomed, and assisted in a respectful manner.
Our focus: outreach to children and families who have concerns about possible abuse or are, in fact, facing the adversities of abuse. Our professionals will assess each situation carefully and offer appropriate care. Our goals: to assist children and their families with these concerns, to foster prevention of child abuse through education, and to work towards the recovery and resilience of the survivor of abuse, as well as that of their families. No one will be turned away because of lack of funds. We understand it takes the concerted effort of many people—parents, educators, religious leaders, child development professionals, child protection workers– to successfully undertake a commitment for the protection of children.
About Us – Executive Director
Dr. Laren is a licensed psychologist in New York State, and Florida. Throughout her tenure, she has presented extensively to the academic communities on the assessment, management and treatment of individuals and family crisis and trauma.
In 2010, Dr. Laren was appointed director of the Child and Family Support Program, a child advocacy center, in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine which focuses on issues of child abuse and neglect.
In 2008, Dr. Laren was appointed Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics and Psychiatry departments of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and served as consultant to pediatric and psychiatry fellows involving crisis, trauma and loss.
In 2007, she designed and implemented a one-year training program for doctoral students in clinical psychology within the Child and Family Support Program in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The training’s exclusive focus: the assessment and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The goal: restoring and strengthening coping mechanisms that lead to excellent levels of social and emotional functioning.
In 2004, Dr. Laren served as psychologist and Clinical Instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and served as consultant in the Pediatrics and Psychiatry in and outpatient departments.
Immediately following the September 11 attacks, Dr. Laren provided trauma recovery treatment to first responders and their families.
From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Laren served as staff psychologist, clinical supervisor, and faculty at the Karen Horney Trauma Center, and during this time she began her private practice.
Dr. Laren earned her Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, her Master’s and Ph.D. from Adelphi University where her dissertation on differences in the expression of emotions in fluent bilinguals was nominated for the Farber Prize Award.
Dr. Laren is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Society of Trauma Studies, International Society for the Study of Dissociation, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and on the Advisory Board and member of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators.
Clinical Staff--Dr Laren will surround herself with other
clinical psychologists licensed in the state of New York and experienced in the assessment and treatment of crisis and trauma, specifically related to issues of abuse. These professionals will be knowledgeable and sensitive to the concerns of Jewish Orthodox culture.
Doctoral students in Clinical Psychology enrolled in APA-accredited doctoral clinical psychology graduate programs and interested in fulfilling a clinical requirement by focusing in the area of child abuse will be enrolled in a teaching program to be taught by Dr Laren and other leaders in this field. This ongoing one year program will provide a thorough background for those psychologists desiring to become more expert in the field of abuse prevention, assessment, and treatment.
Our Advisory Board
A group of six rabbis will be convened to serve as an advisory board to collaborate with the program director, Dr. Laren, and her staff in the initial assessment of children and families who present to Open Door/Delet P’tuchah פתוחה דלת with concerns of abuse. They will help make rapid evaluations as to which children should begin immediate therapy, which cases should be reported to law-enforcement authorities in a timely fashion, and under what circumstances parents need to be advised of events that have occurred and measures needed to protect other children possibly exposed to the offending person or persons.
We will provide cell phones for these rabbis to be on call for consultations on a emergency basis, 24/6.
For Parents:
Prevention through Education. We will provide lectures in person and internet pointers and advice, to help parents detect and even prevent abuse of their dear children.
Prevention through Education. We will provide lectures in person and internet pointers and advice, to help parents detect and even prevent abuse of their dear children.
For educators:
We will provide educator-appropriate detailed tutoring of principals, teachers, rebbes, moros, etc., again with the goal of preventing abuse, decreasing the unacceptably high incidence of abuse in Orthodox Jewish educational and camp environments, and orienting educational professionals on procedures to follow when abuse has occurred.
For Children
We will provide age-appropriate, religiously sensitive sessions to children on all grade levels, all designed to decrease in a major way the horribly high incidence of abuse in our Jewish educational and religious institutions.
The internet is admittedly a dangerous vehicle which must be regulated heavily through parental controls. But children of all ages seem to be gaining more and more access to it. We want to use the internet for the good of the young people of Klal Yisro-l. To that end, we will set up an internet hot-line staffed by both psychologists and rabbis, that no parent need be afraid of, whereby children who fear early stages of abuse can report it to us early, quickly, and anonymously if desired. Parents and educators can also utilize this computer hot line. We will have our psychological experts respond to all email/internet inquiries rapidly. We will also have our rabbinic advisors available 24/6 to respond to children, parents, educational professionals, etc.
No child should ever again feel alone when confronted by the specter or the ogres of abuse--we will be quickly available to them via internet. Hopefully, this will also cut back on the incidence and sequealae of abuse: drug addiction, becoming teenagers at risk, and even suicide.
Treatment
We promise the Orthodox Jewish world that no child will ever be turned away from receiving appropriate treatment because of lack of family ability to pay. Those who can pay fully, will be asked to do so. Those who can pay reduced fees will also be asked to do so. Those who cannot afford any payments, will be given the exact same caliber of treatments as the paying patients-ABSOLUTELY FREE.
The only thing preventing our getting started immediately, is the age-old problem of money.
We need approximately $100,000 seed money to get started in a meaningful way. Won't all of you come forward with meaningul contributions? This is literally Pikuach Nefesh and Hatzolas Nefoshos. Please respond soon, respond generously and ask your friends, relatives, and neighbors to also respond. There is no program in the Orthodox Jewish world more urgent than this one.
It’s hard to face the disappointing fact that someone we know, like–and even love–might be a sexual predator. However, the statistical data is accurate. Abusers abuse repeatedly. An average pedophile will offend 200-400 times before getting caught. One in 5 girls will be sexually abused before her 16th birthday. One in 6 boys will be abused before he is 18. Only one in 10 will tell. According to the FBI, only one in 10 cases is reported to law enforcement.
The National Children’s Alliance reports that in 2012 among the over 262,000 alleged offenders investigated for instances of child abuse:
125,129 were related or known to the child victim in another way
22,055 were an unrelated person the victim knew, and:
147,005 were 18+ years old
25,756 were ages 13 to 17 years
18,227 were under age 13 years
Pedophiles’ narratives/confessions are filled with details as to how they exert enormous energies building trust with their victims. Because this period known as “grooming” takes time, the perpetrators focus on several groups of children in schools, sports clubs, camps, communities, and families. This actually gives an appropriate prevention program a golden window of opportunity to terminate the abuse even before it occurs. Therefore, you MUST:
Educate your child
Be wary but calm when communicating with your child
Talk to your child, calmly, about personal safety. Usually around the age of 3, you can begin to role play scenarios about body ownership, and boundaries setting. As your child gets older, you can talk about occasions when people, even adults, feel uncomfortable around people they know—sometimes for “no apparent” reason. Tell your child to tell you about the discomfort he or she feels around certain people, assuring them you will take care of it.
Talk to your child, calmly, if you notice that he or she is uncharacteristically uncomfortable or rejects closeness to a neighbor, close friend of the family, relative, respected member of the community.
Ask questions, calmly, about gifts, treats, special favors your child may be receiving from an adult or teen.
Be wary, and openly communicate through calm and concerned questions if anybody, including teachers, coaches, counselors, youth group leaders, doctors, babysitters, relatives ever meets with your child in a private room with a closed door for any reason or goes off to any place where they are alone.
If a child discloses sexual abuse, respond calmly, supportively and reassuringly. Let your child know you will stop it immediately. Do not tell the child he or she should have told you sooner as it will be a reason for her or him to feel blamed.
Do not confront the alleged perpetrator. They are masters of deception, and your child will feel you did not believe the disclosure.
Do what will insure your child’s safety. Reach out to those who can best help your child and your family. Open Door/Delet P’tuchah פתוחה דלת will hopefully soon be ready to assist you. Lectures & Workshops will be available to address issues of child abuse. We also will offer small informative groups, support groups, and psychotherapy groups where families feel free to ask, share, and process the experience they are facing.
For Rabbanim/Religious Leaders
Child abuse is real and it occurs in every community regardless of age, gender, racial, religious affiliation, and/or socio-economic strata. We have listed the national statistics. These numbers, based on reported cases, are staggering. While we would like to think that we are different, that our children are not abused, that our family members, our teachers, our camp counselors, our family friends would never hurt us, we know differently.
Religious leaders can play a critical role in the protection of our children. Thier interventions can be effective and sustainable as they come from deep-seated commitments to higher causes and, as evidenced in our religious texts and tenets, there is an ethical obligation to care for and protect children. Because religious leaders are able to enter the family sphere in a way and to a depth that outsiders are unable to, they can be a conduit and agent for change and meaningfully positive transformations in the lives of our children and their families.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, we are aware of the lack of communication and coordination between religious communities and outside child protection agencies. In some cases there is an absence of a systematic code of appropriate conduct regarding children and child protection, particularly in emergency situations. Assumptions about different groups, rigidity of ideological positions, to name a few, can sometimes impact the ability or willingness to get involved effectively and collaboratively in new, sensitive issues affecting children, e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse, physical or sexual abuse.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, rabbis and psychologists will work closely with the alleged victim and with the family to first ascertain the accuracy of the claim. If after the initial assessments there is a need for further investigation by a child protection agency, this will be discussed in detail with the family. Our psychologists and rabbis will offer ongoing support to the child and his or her family throughout the investigative and therapeutic process.
At Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה, we are committed to making sure that Halacha tenets are observed. We ALL are compelled to exercise caution and avoid slander against innocent individuals. Open Door/Delet P’tuchah דלת פתוחה will be staffed by specialized professionals whose first concern is to determine the accuracy of the claims. This group of dedicated professionals will be comprised of clinical psychologists and six rabbis who, while keenly aware of adult behaviors that cause substantial harm to children’s well being, recognize that the veracity of the reports must be unquestionable.
As mentioned, we need seed money to get our program started. Please, please help us to help the children of the frum world overcome the scourge of sexual abuse that is all too rampant in our world which should be totally holy, and intolerant of such abuse. We are asking for contributions, small and large, to enable this program to accomplish major victories in the ugly fight for the Neshamos of our children. Won't you join us and help till it hurts financially, and until it stops hurting re the abuse our children are suffering?!