Someone I know -let’s call her Amanda- (who has legal guardianship over their niece) has been verbally, emotionally and sometimes physically abusing her own child(3) and the niece(13). The niece recently showed us pictures and videos as proof. 4 or 5 videos- all on separate occasions -of deeply disturbing screaming, cursing, throwing objects, kicking doors, knocking down baby gates, exploding canned drinks against the wall and very distinguishable slapping sounds which the niece said was her hitting her toddler but wasn’t shown in the video (these were directed at the 3 year old who was hysterically crying in the background) and pictures of handprints of the nieces face. This along with the niece telling me about it for the last 2 years or so. (I already feel a terrible amount of guilt for not taking it seriously, so please be kind).
She showed me along with several other family members and we discussed what should happen next and we agreed that the authorities should be contacted. I called CPS, when they performed the house call the niece showed them the aforementioned videos and pictures and immediately put restrictions on Amanda’s interactions with the children. She was not allowed to be alone with them until a therapist assessed her, and only background checked approved adults had to chaperone her interactions with both kids. I’ve known Amanda for over a decade and she’s mentally unstable but hides it VERY well. She has passed her assessment and now is required to see a therapist along with the niece.
I’ve been in contact with the niece the entire time, and the niece just informed me that Amanda speaks with her therapist for an hour before the nieces actual session. She has somehow convinced the therapist that the niece is a pathological liar who has extreme violent outbursts among other mental health issues. They had a group therapy session where Amanda wouldn’t let the niece speak and when she did, would claim that she was lying. After the session the therapist spoke to the niece and informed her she would be putting her on “relaxing meds” to try to control these outbursts.
My entire family of 16 people have known this child from birth (she lived with all of us in a 3 family house for 4 years) and we can confidently say with 100% certainty that this child absolutely does not have these issues Amanda is claiming she has. She’s a typical 13 year old girl, and turned out FANTASTIC considering the horrible life she’s had. She’s nervous about the medication (I asked if they said what it was called she said no) asking me what would happen to her if she took medication when there’s nothing wrong with her.
This is a fraction of the story but I want to keep it concise- is there anything that can be done on our end or the nieces end about this? I feel this is lazy work and maybe the therapist is overbooked or has a large caseload and is just taking Amanda’s word instead of doing the actual footwork and running her own assessments on the niece. She tells me about her sessions and there’s no way the therapist came to these conclusions on her own based on what takes place during her time with her. (I’m not claiming to be a therapist by any stretch of the imagination but I minored in child psychology for my masters, so I do have some familiarity with it)
Is this considered malpractice? Medical abuse? Is there ANYTHING that can be done to stop this?
She showed me along with several other family members and we discussed what should happen next and we agreed that the authorities should be contacted. I called CPS, when they performed the house call the niece showed them the aforementioned videos and pictures and immediately put restrictions on Amanda’s interactions with the children. She was not allowed to be alone with them until a therapist assessed her, and only background checked approved adults had to chaperone her interactions with both kids. I’ve known Amanda for over a decade and she’s mentally unstable but hides it VERY well. She has passed her assessment and now is required to see a therapist along with the niece.
I’ve been in contact with the niece the entire time, and the niece just informed me that Amanda speaks with her therapist for an hour before the nieces actual session. She has somehow convinced the therapist that the niece is a pathological liar who has extreme violent outbursts among other mental health issues. They had a group therapy session where Amanda wouldn’t let the niece speak and when she did, would claim that she was lying. After the session the therapist spoke to the niece and informed her she would be putting her on “relaxing meds” to try to control these outbursts.
My entire family of 16 people have known this child from birth (she lived with all of us in a 3 family house for 4 years) and we can confidently say with 100% certainty that this child absolutely does not have these issues Amanda is claiming she has. She’s a typical 13 year old girl, and turned out FANTASTIC considering the horrible life she’s had. She’s nervous about the medication (I asked if they said what it was called she said no) asking me what would happen to her if she took medication when there’s nothing wrong with her.
This is a fraction of the story but I want to keep it concise- is there anything that can be done on our end or the nieces end about this? I feel this is lazy work and maybe the therapist is overbooked or has a large caseload and is just taking Amanda’s word instead of doing the actual footwork and running her own assessments on the niece. She tells me about her sessions and there’s no way the therapist came to these conclusions on her own based on what takes place during her time with her. (I’m not claiming to be a therapist by any stretch of the imagination but I minored in child psychology for my masters, so I do have some familiarity with it)
Is this considered malpractice? Medical abuse? Is there ANYTHING that can be done to stop this?
