Disclosure is often seen as a one-off, one-way event in which the adult is a passive recipient of a child’s words.

This article reframes ‘disclosure’ as a two-way interaction in which the response of the adult is a key determinant of children’s safety. Many professionals are also given negative, prohibitive guidance about responding to early concerns. 

We instead offer a framework of positive, practical, evidence-based guidance. This article is focussed on responses by therapists, however the skills and techniques discussed can be used across all front line professionals working with children to enable them to respond confidently to children when there may be safeguarding concerns, and we introduce the analogy of ‘opening doors’ that a child might walk through, or not.