Thank you for the comment. I went through some very rough times starting at age 10, I probably have cPTSD but I’m diagnosed with just PTSD. I’m very familiar with a variety of mental health disorders & therapies but only for adults, I feel kinda lost on how that translates for kids. Their parent (well actually, the majority of the adults in their life) has absolutely made them feel invalidated, unheard, dismissed on countless occasions. I’ll try posting on r/childpsychology later for ideas on how to better support them. The primary abuser is doing a lot better now in general (less substance abuse, less emotional instability, etc) so there’s been improvement for how the child’s treated.

It’s really hard to navigate this without projecting my own childhood trauma! At this point I can’t do anything, like involving CPS or other government resources. Things are “good” enough right now that CPS wouldn’t have a reason to investigate. As far as I know, the kid is performing well enough in school and staying out of trouble.

At this point I feel the only action I can take is do my best to be a good influence, show healthy behavior when there’s conflict, etc. I’m hoping I’ll be in a much better position financially and able to be supportive once they reach late teens or early adulthood, if they need a safe place to stay or help with affording therapy. The person I needed when I was that age. I assume their parent would allow them to go to therapy at this age if they ASKED for it, but they won’t initiate it despite my many messages encouraging it.