The case involving the Colorado family and the balloon hoax raises questions about adults who exploit children. How would you help a child traumatized by such an incident?

A friend of mine, Wendy Murphy, who is a lawyer and teaches law, also writes op-eds for the Daily Beast and other papers. In a recent op-ed about the Heene family, she closed the piece this way:

“Advertisers know that audiences tune in to reality shows when they can identify with the stars. The Heenes will never attract viewers because among all the moms and dads who sat glued to their television last week, not a single one can relate to people who see value in the criminal exploitation of their own 6-year-old child.”

We in psychiatry have to help heal our nation and its moral wounds. This story is a disgrace–and a prime example of the extent to which we get excited by duplicity and criminality.

Fortunately, Richard Heene was among the few who got caught. But that doesn't solve the problem of this child, whom he engaged as a coconspirator.