Sexual Trauma in Children and Adolescents: Dynamics and Treatment

xii, 206 pp. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of molestation, including a discussion of currently held misconceptions about the sexual abuse of children. In Chapter 2, the authors continue with a systematic approach to the task of assessing whether or not a child has been molested and, if so, establishing the extent of the trauma thus produced. This chapter also discusses existing research findings, the psychological aftereffects of sexual trauma, key symptoms presented by abused children, and how to conduct initial interviews with the child and his or her parents. The next five chapters, on the treatment of victims of sexual abuse, including adults who were sexually abused as children or adolescents, address both cases in which a therapist has been asked to provide treatment after sexual abuse was discovered and cases in which an existing treatment process must be altered because sexual abuse has been revealed. Chapter 3 reviews the treatment of the child victim and other affected members of the child's family and includes a discussion of the goals of therapy, the family's reaction, parental denial, emotionally impoverished families, the relationship between the therapist and the child's mother, sexual acting out by the child, recommended therapy, and treatment processes. Treatment of adolescent victims is discussed in Chapter 4, which focuses on the major issues confronting the therapist, an explanation of the "rape trauma syndrome and recovery cycle," "silent rape," in which the adolescent attempts to hide the assault from her parents, the impact of adolescent rape on the family system, and other issues. Chapter 5 reviews research and theoretical work pertaining to incest and describes the evolution of the most common types of incestuous family systems, assessment of incest cases, and treatment of the incestuous family. In Chapter 6, the subject of the boy victim is addressed in terms of such topics as the short- and long-term effects of molestation on the boy, effects on the family, the source of the assault, a psychological profile of the molester, and treatment methods. Of particular interest is Chapter 7, which focuses on adults who were sexually abused as children and adolescents. The chapter provides a clinical picture of the characteristics of these victims, the relationship between client and therapist, the process of uncovering the victim's "secret," common errors made by clinicians who treat this population, and the therapeutic process. Finally, legal and ethical considerations are addressed in Chapter 8 (written with Richard Gregg, Esq.), which describes the reporting of child abuse, the importance of record keeping by the therapist, numerous issues relating to court procedures, the criminal process, the trial, and civil suits.