Shannon Buesser remembers the emotional disintegration that plagued her and her three children before they started therapy with the nonprofit Family Advocacy, Care, Education, Support.
“I would walk away and sit outside and cry,” Buesser, 27, said.
Almost one year later, Buesser’s kids have learned to handle their rage and talk with her about its cause, and Buesser has become a stronger and better parent, she said.
FACES’ goal is to prevent child abuse and neglect by strengthening parents’ ability to protect and care for their children. The organization is seeking funding from this year’s Post-News Season to Share campaign.
The organization provides therapists who work with families in their homes.
“We work with about 190 families a year, about 650 individuals, that includes parents and children,” said Debora Judish, executive director of FACES.
Most are under emotional stress, a fact that can lead parents to abuse their children, Judish said.
Some already have engaged in abuse. Others, like Buesser, a rehabilitation aide who works at a nursing home, are considered at-risk. FACES steps in to prevent them from going over the edge.
Divorce and separation, financial difficulties, aggressive children and other issues can lead parents to mistreat kids, said Christy Moss, 25, an in-home family counselor.
Beatings aren’t the most common forms that abuse takes. “It is usually neglect,” Judish said.
For Arvada resident Buesser and her children, the stress began when her husband walked out more than a year ago.
For her children — Hailey, 9, Tanner, 7, and Jackson, 3 — the loss was painful, but they didn’t know how to express it. Buesser, who had her first child at 17, was crushed by her inability to reach them.
Tanner was particularly difficult, refusing to talk, mounting towering tantrums and tormenting his siblings, Buesser said.
“He was not the child I was used to. My mother noticed the trouble with my son, and she said, ‘You need to start therapy as soon as possible because he is an angry kid.’ ”
Buesser already knew that she needed help. “None of us were working through it; it was devastating.”
Moss began visiting the family once a week, working with the children for a half-hour or so before counseling their mom.
“I do a lot of drawing. A lot of times kids don’t feel comfortable using words, but they will draw out what they are feeling,” Moss said.
She helped Buesser draw up a schedule for her children and deal with her own feelings of abandonment by a husband who sees his kids every four months or so.
The family has made progress.
“The oldest two can now say, ‘I’m mad,’ which is a big step,” Moss said.
“I have learned so much about myself,” Buesser said. “I am a strong woman able to raise my children on my own. I think I would have some sad, lonely kids if I hadn’t started therapy.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671
