1st Edition

Reclaiming Herstory Ericksonian Solution-Focused Therapy For Sexual Abuse

By Cheryl Bell-Gadsby, Anne Siegenberg Copyright 1996
    284 Pages
    by Routledge

    284 Pages
    by Routledge

    Women who have survived sexual abuse are among the most traumatized individuals who seek therapy. Assisting such clients to reframe transcend their abusive pasts requires enormous sensitivity and therapeutic skill. Reclaiming Herstory: Ericksonian Solution-Focused Therapy for Sexual Abuse will greatly help therapists hone their craft with its solution-focused, Ericksonian approach and highly refined techniques for working with this population. The approach the authors present has evolved through work with hundreds of sexual abuse survivors. The authors have found their techniques to be remarkably effective in helping these clients to regain a sense of freedom and empowerment in their lives. The authors view the healing process as a collaborative partnership in which the therapist co-creates with the client a positive context for healing. This process comprises four distinct stages through which every client must pass in order to achieve their own unique potential. The book clearly describes the primary symptoms and features of the four stages, which are: Breaking the silence and unmasking the secret Becoming visible Reclaiming and reintegration of the self Empowerment and the evolution of the sexual self It also presents, for each stage, a series of detailed metaphorical stories, exercises, and rituals designed to assist a client who is traversing a particular stage. Numerous suggestions, lists, questions, and vivid case studies help the therapist to identify and assess the individual needs of a particular client and then pinpoint those tools that will best facilitate the healing process at a given stage. Recognizing the severe toll that work with sexually abused clients can take on the therapist, Reclaiming Herstory also provides strategies for self-care that can be used during various stages of therapeutic practice. The volume also provides a timely and important discussion of the controversial false memory backlash and its impact on the survivor and implications for the therapist.

    Part 1 PART I PROCESS AND PRACTICE; Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 Trauma and Memory; Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 Tools of the Trade: Theory and Techniques to Help Equip the Therapist; Part 2 PART II THE HEALING STAGES OF SEXUAL ABUSE; Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 Stage One: Breaking the Silence and Unmasking the Secret; Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4 Stage Two: Becoming Visible; Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5 Stage Three: The Reclaiming and Reintegrating of Self; Chapter 6 CHAPTER 6 Stage Four: Empowerment and Evolution of the Sexual Self (Part A); Chapter 7 CHAPTER 7 Stage Four: Empowerment and Evolution of the Sexual Self (Part B); Part 3 PART III SELF-CARE FOR THE THERAPIST; Chapter 8 CHAPTER 8 Tracking the Evolution of the Sexual Abuse Therapist; References; Name Index; Subject Index;

    Biography

    Cheryl Bell-Gadsby, M.A., M.F.C.C., is Coordinator, Sexual Assault Resolution Program, Family Services of the North Shore, North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She also has a private practice specializing in childhood trauma and hypnotherapy., Anne Siegenberg, M.S.W., R.S.W., is Family Therapist at the Jewish Family Service Agency, and Group Facilitator with survivors of sexual abuse at Family Services of the North Shore. She is also a social worker in private practice with a focus on survivors of childhood trauma.