by Claudine Gallacher, MA

Parents, what’s the most important thing you can do to raise a child to become a healthy, addiction-free adult? The answer is simple: create an environment where your child feels safe. That’s according to Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S, and Founding Director of the Sexual Recovery Institute.

Creating a Safe Place to Talk

In a telephone interview, Weiss told me that a young child who has been exposed to pornography has an emotional need to talk about it. He stressed that it’s important for kids to know they can trust the responsible adults in their lives to teach, mentor, and (when needed) redirect them. When parents fail to make a child feel safe or, even worse, when parents shame their child, they may be leading their child towards addiction.

The key is to focus on building a team spirit, remembering that porn–not their child– is the enemy.