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CNN Live At Daybreak

Trauma Checkup with Dr. Paul Dobransky

Aired September 02, 2002 - 06:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: David Westerfield's attorneys will be back at it again today, they're trying to convince a San Diego jury to spare their client's life. Last week, as you remember, Danielle van Dam's parents gave some heart wrenching testimony about life without their 7-year-old daughter. Westerfield has already been convicted of kidnapping and murder in this case. This is the sentencing phase of the death penalty trial.
Now this Westerfield case is just one of -- one example of what seems like, seems like a rash of child abductions and murders this summer. It's a topic, however, that parents are talking about with their children, especially as many of them go back to school.

Joining us on the telephone this morning, Dr. Paul Dobransky. He is a psychiatrist from Denver who specializes in dealing with trauma and violence.

Thanks for being with us today.

PAUL DOBRANSKY, PSYCHIATRIST: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: You know we said seems like we've seen an increase in these type of cases, but we really haven't, have we?

DOBRANSKY: Well the actual statistics appear to show that there's really no increase or difference over the past several years in the -- certainly in the numbers of child murders after abduction.

CALLAWAY: You know it's -- I'm a parent and I have a child who's seven. And she's, you know, asking a lot of questions now when she sees and hears about these type of stories on, you know, who do you trust, who do you not trust and it's difficult to know how to explain this type of thing to a child. Do you have any advice out there, you know, for parents? Do you think it's risky to actually tell children exactly what's going on?

DOBRANSKY: Well what's really important for adults, first off, to know the difference between is probability and possibilities of things occurring. When we do a thing called suffering what we're doing is trying to control the uncontrollable or wishing we had control over the uncontrollable. And so when we suffer or we worry excessively about what's in the news, we tend to confuse negative possibilities as if they're probable. What that ends up doing is limiting our own freedom or power to act to help the community and people tend to go into more emotional pain and depression rather than seeking solutions when we do that. So when you -- when you talk to children, it will be important to be able to explain to them that, in your own metaphor, that this occurs about 1 in 400,000 children which is a very, very small number.

CALLAWAY: You know, though, the facts are almost more unsettling that usually these abductions are done by people who children already know and not from some stranger. You're almost reluctant to tell them that.

DOBRANSKY: Well that's true. And in following what's been in the news, you see that there's been all kinds of external programs that are starting to be put in place, things like the AMBER Alert System and even something more controversial like the microchip implantation ideas. These are all external measure to try to control something that ultimately comes down to the need for a child to recognize what are called personal boundaries. That's what parents could do is to teach their children more about personal boundaries.

CALLAWAY: All right, and that's an ongoing process, too.

Paul Dobransky, thank you for being with us this morning.

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