A concrete, how-to-do-it guide to recognizing, assessing, and treating adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Includes descriptions of "red flags" (symptoms that should alert therapists to a possible history of childhood sexual abuse), important differences in treatment methods for adult survivors vs. child victims, current knowledge about sexual abuse, and numerous special resources. Review: "An integrative, systemic approach, which provides safety for the victim and sheds new light in terms of the dynamics for treatment. Both current family and family of origin issues are well handled. I would recommend this to all mental health professionals...a very useful self-help book in terms of insight and affect for incest survivors and family members dealing with this area of human pain." -Ralph H. Earle, PhD, Scottsdale, Arizona Table of Contents: Introduction What is Incest? What We Know about Sexual Abuse What Causes Incest? Family Pathology / Permissive Subculture/ Individual Psychopathology/ Alcohol and Alcoholism /Multiple Causation Presentations of Incest in the Therapist's Office Red Flags for the Clinician Effects of Childhood Incest A Continuum of Current Effects/ Some Female-Male Differences/Victimization and Ethical Issues Exploring with the Survivor It's Different from Treating Children Working with the Survivor Listening Carefully and Understandingly/ Clarifying the Client's Communications and Comprehension/ Dealing with the Client's Reactions / Going Through the Valley / Normalizing Experiences as Much as Possible / Reframing / Exploring the Client's Efforts to Deal with the Problem / Dealing with Feelings toward Betrayer and Failed Protector / Finding Trustworthy and Helpful Sources of Support / Helping the Client to Jettison Old Feelings / Helping the Client Fail and Succeed Simultaneously / Some Other Issues and Nonissues Working with the Spouse Married Clients and Their Spouses Disclosure During Individual Session / Disclosure During Joint Session Reestablishing Family Relationships Survivors and Their Family of Origin Ways of Dealing with the Family of Origin / The Apology Issue Summary Concluding Thoughts References About the Author: William C. Nichols, EdD, has spent nearly two decades in full-time private practice as a psychologist and a marital and family therapist. In addition, he has taught and supervised psychologists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, counselors, and therapists in a variety of agency, educational, and private settings. Dr. Nichols is a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) and a Fellow of both the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Psychological Association. |