Treatment Techniques for Adult Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The author reviews recent empirical, case study, and conceptual literature that examines or discusses treatment techniques for adult female survivors in individual therapy. These techniques are divided into the following 11 categories: relationship-building techniques; questioning: family-of-origin techniques; writing techniques; gestalt work, role playing, and psychodrama; transactional analysis and inner-child work: hypnotherapy and guided imagery; cognitive techniques; behavioral techniques; life-skills training; and other techniques. The author concludes with implications for researchers and practitioners.     

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy in the Treatment of Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study investigated the effectiveness of Rational-emotive behavior therapy in the treatment of adult victims of childhood sexual abuse. A sample of 42 women, seeking help for their psychological distress associated with childhood sexual abuse, was selected by means of an assessment interview and the Trauma Sympton Checklist, and randomly assigned to a treatment (n=28) and a delayed treatment control group (n=14). The treatment group participated in 10 weekly sessions of group Rational-emotive behavior therapy and was followed up 8 weeks after termination of treatment. Repeated measurements were obtained by means of the Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Scale, State-Trait Anger Scale, Guilt Inventory, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction. Results indicated significant reductions in depression, State anxiety, State anger, State guilt and low self-esteem. These improvements were maintained at follow-up.     

Counseling Child Sexual Abuse Victims: Myths and Realities

The goal of the authors is to (a) create an awareness among counselors about the nature and prevalence of child sexual abuse, (b) examine myths and realities about the topic, and (c) present recommendations for interviewing suspected victims of child sexual abuse.     

The Satir Model with Female Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse is a recognized problem in the United States and Canada. There are several approaches to therapy with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This article discusses Virginia Satir's model of therapy as it applies to sexual abuse. The emphasis of the Satir model is on transforming the impact of the abuse, no matter how the client chooses to process her relationship with the abuse, and is illustrated through a case study.     

Adult Re-collections of Childhood Sexual Abuse

A controversy exists regarding adults who come to bear memories of childhood sexual abuse. This debate in both the scientific literature and popular press has evolved into a dichotomous categorization which demands an identification of these memories as either "true" or "false." This paper will lend a theoretical foundation to the discussion, considering the phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, including: psychoanalytic, developmental and cognitive theories of psychology, folkloristic studies, and the sociology of knowledge. The goal of this consideration is to determine what can be said about "truth" in light of these memories. Implications for social work practice and research are provided.     

The Influence of Religion on Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Survey responses of 5,417 women were studied to obtain information about childhood sexual abuse, religion, and mental health. There were 653 (13%) who reported being sexually abused while growing up. When studying those who were sexually abused, it was found that this childhood experience was associated with less emotional maturity, lower self-esteem, more instability in their relationships with partners, and higher levels of depression. The highest scores on the mental health indicators were found for women who were not abused and highly religious, then highly religious and abused, and the lower scores for no abuse and low religiosity, low religiosity and abuse, and medium religiosity and abuse. These findings were interpreted as demon- strating that religion could help ameliorate negative mental health outcomes associ- ated with childhood sexual abuse.     

Priests as Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse: The Effects of Disclosure on Empathy

This study explores the effects of disclosing a history of childhood sexual abuse on empathy for Roman Catholic priests. The research design randomly selected priests in good standing in the Roman Catholic Church from 10 locations in the United States. Three groups of priests were identified based on self-report: (a) priests who report sexual abuse and no disclosure, (b) priests who report sexual abuse and disclosure, and (c) priests who report no sexual abuse. The three groups were compared using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index dimensions of perspective-taking, empathic concern, and personal distress as the dependent variable. The data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression to examine the incremental contributions for the different sets of independent variables. Results indicate that empathy was not exclusively associated with disclosing sexual abuse. The need for earlier intervention, education, and assistance for priests in disclosing childhood sexual abuse is discussed.     

The Spiritual Trauma Experienced by Victims of Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy

Most of the published literature on clergy abuse of children has addressed the emotional and psychological effects of sexual abuse common to all victims. The literature published by Church-related sources has consistently addressed the impact of clergy abuse on the Church as an institution as well as the problems and treatment needs of the clergy abusers. Little has been written or even explored about the spiritual trauma suffered by clergy victims. This article examines some of the symptoms and possible recovery from the spiritual dimension of post abuse trauma.     

Differences in Personality Disorders and Family-of-Origin Characteristics for Male and Female Alcoholics: Implications for Treatment

This study investigated the personality and family-of-origin differences in male and female alcoholics. Results indicated that, regarding personality, men (both type 1 and type 2) were less troubled than were women. Implications for treatment based on these results are included.     

Sexual Abuse and the Christian Congregation: The Role of Gender in Pastoral Care for Victims

This study investigated the role of gender in the care for victims of sexual abuse within three Swedish Christian denominations. Questionnaires anchored by vignettes illustrating different abuse situations were answered by 421 clerics. The main findings were that female respondents apprehended the described situations as more likely to occur than male respondents did, and that levels of preparedness to offer pastoral care and belief in the likelihood of the situations to occur were higher when a female was the victim or a male was the perpetrator. Denominational differences were found concerning level of personal discomfort when hearing about the abuse.     

Clericalism,Religious Duress and its Psychological Impact on Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse

Religious duress is a unique kind of threat and constraint involuntarily experienced by some members of the Roman Catholic Church as a result of religious indoctrination and training. Fear, awe and respect for the clergy foster the development and actualization of religious duress. This phenomenon can seriously impede a person’s capacity to accurately perceive and evaluate abusive actions perpetrated on them by clergy. This constraint poses an impediment to emotional and spiritual development. Internalized religious duress confuses and psychologically overwhelms such individuals and renders them incapable of absorbing their sexual trauma. The consequent feelings of numbness and immobility distort the perception of reality. It then becomes impossible for the individual to act in a manner that would protect and promote emotional growth and spiritual well being.     

When Compassion is Making It Worse: Social Dynamics of Tabooing Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

The paper explores the social dynamics of tabooing, using sexual abuse of children as an example. Some social categories are problematic to embrace, because they entail socially problematic category bound activities in an emotional context of guilt and shame. This theoretical paper shows how a victim of sexual abuse as a child may suffer from two separate offenses, a sexual and a social; one caused by actions of the offender, one caused by actions of intended helpers. By ascribing an identity of ‘incest victim’ or ‘victim of child sexual abuse’ to a person, the taboo act becomes linked to the person. This may be an inescapable ascribed identity for the person, leading her/him to be subject of both sexual and social offenses. As a consequence, potential ‘victims’ may have troubled affiliation with such identity casting, and may fight a future tabooed role by not reporting tabooed abusive actions, hence not receiving the help needed to recover.     

Spirituality and the Current Adjustment of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

We explore the role of spirituality in the current adjustment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). A sample of 101 men and women survivors of CSA completed questionnaires on spirituality (relationship with God or higher power), person factors (blame attributions, self-acceptance, hope), and current adjustment (mood, personal growth, resolution of the abuse). Results indicated that relationship with a benevolent God or higher power is related to the experience of less negative mood and a greater sense of personal growth and resolution of the abuse. Also, relationship with a higher power is related to other person factors such as self-acceptance and hope. Relationship with a benevolent God appears to have an indirect link to depressive mood and resolution of abuse through the mediating pathways of hope and self-acceptance. In contrast, relationship with God appears to have a more direct association to the outcome of personal growth for these survivors .     

The Feminizing Effect of Sexual Violence in Third-Party Perceptions of Male and Female Victims

Sex Roles - Various scholars have noted that the label “victim” frequently elicits connotations of stereotypical, passive femininity—especially when the crime entails rape or...     

Victims of Abuse by Priests: Some Preliminary Observations

This paper describes the results of psychological assessments of 25 adult males who were victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests as children or early adolescents. Preliminary data suggest that premorbid personality patterns in these victims put them at greater risk for abuse and also exacerbated the effects of their victimization. These observations are considered in the context of prevalent explanatory models of the traumagenic effects of child sexual abuse.     

Family-of-Origin Experiences and Conflict Resolution Behaviors of Young Adult Dating Couples

This study was conducted to explore the relationship among retrospective reports of family-of-origin functioning, reported perceptions of a laboratory-based conflict resolution discussion, and outsiders' ratings of communication behaviors between young adult dating couples, with a special focus on predicted gender differences. Sixty-three couples aged 18 to 24 participated in this study. A Revealed Differences task was used to elicit discussion about an issue identified as discordant for the couple on a Relationship Issue Questionnaire. Family-of-origin variables were related to both men's and women's perceptions of the conflict, as well as outsiders' ratings of their conflict resolution behaviors. However, the conflict resolution behaviors and perceptions of men and women were associated with distinctly different aspects of functioning in their families of origin. Further, women's families-of-origin factors were more prominent for the couples' communication behaviors because they indicated a greater number of significant correlations between the women's families of origin and: 1) perceptions of the conflict resolution discussion by both the men and women, and 2) the observed conflict resolution behaviors of both men and women. These findings are discussed in the context of both the relevant research and important social-political influences.     

Levels of Social Support and Coping Strategies in Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

The study examined the effects of levels of social support and types of coping strategies on the psychological adjustment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Five hundred students from two universities in the Limpopo Province of South Africa participated in this study (males =115, females = 383). Mixed methods were used for the collection and data analysis. Higher the level of social support received correlated with superior psychological adjustment. The specific types of coping styles adopted did not affect psychological adjustment in the survivors.     

Current Treatment Strategies for Dissociative Identity Disorders in Adult Sexual Abuse Survivors

SUMMARY

During the past decade, increasing numbers of clinicians and researchers have suggested that the dissociative disorders, including dissociative identity disorder (DID), may be more prevalent than previously hypothesized. The “rediscovery” of DID is due, in part, to the recognition that early childhood trauma in conjunction with the propensity to dissociate, are etiologic factors for the development of DID. The purpose of this article is to raise clinical consciousness regarding DID, discuss the definition and etiology of the dissociative disorders, their assessment, and an approach to treatment of the sexual abuse survivor who has DID. This treatment program, while integrating some of the techniques recommended by others, is unique in its step-by-step flexible organization as well as its multifaceted format. The author's experience to date suggests that the sooner that a dissociative disorder can be identified in the adult sexual abuse survivor client, the more rapid the therapeutic progress.     

Clinically Significant Change After Cognitive Restructuring for Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study investigated the outcome of cognitive restructuring for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in terms of clinically significant change. Twenty-six participants were assessed for depression, State anxiety, State anger, State guilt and self-esteem before and after 10 weekly sessions of group Rational-emotive behavior therapy, and at follow-up after 8 weeks. In contrast to a previous analysis of the data in terms of statistical significance, indicating significant improvements on all variables from pre- to posttreatment, an analysis based on clinically significant change showed a differentiated treatment effect. Cognitive restructuring was found to be highly effective in facilitating recovery on anxiety, depression and anger, but less effective for guilt and low self-esteem. Only 3 patients (11, 54%) recovered on all 5 variables, while 10 patients (38, 46%) showed recovery on at least 4 variables. Relationship to the perpetrator and pre-treatment irrational evaluative beliefs (measured by means of the Survey of Personal Beliefs) were found to be the best predictors of treatment outcome. A poor response to treatment was associated with the perpetrator being a close family member and with more Other-directed Shoulds, while recovery was associated with the perpetrator being a friend or stranger and with more Awfulizing, Self-directed Shoulds and negative Self-worth beliefs.