Psychological treatment for survivors of rape and sexual assault

• Published in: Sex, Mind, and Emotion pp. 185 - 208
• Main Author: Doyle, Anne-Marie
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2006
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Psychological Therapies Services; Forensic Medical Examination; Sud; Young Man; Society’s Negative View; Vivo Exposure; Cpt; Real Life Trauma; Therapist’s Internal World; Genito Urinary Medicine Clinic; Cognitive Behavioural Literatures; Imaginal Exposure; Traumatic Dreams; CBT; Community Mental Health Teams; Cognitive Behavioural Terms; Pre-existing Mental Health Problems; HIV Positive Adolescent; Severe Ptsd Symptom; Therapist’s Emotional Response; Contemporary Cognitive Science; Client’s Unconscious Communications; OSA; Detailed Witness Statement
• ISBN: 9781855753495; 1855753499
• DOI: 10.4324/9780429479984-8

This chapter describes aspects of an integrative psychological treatment approach for survivors of rape and sexual assault that draws upon insights and techniques from the fields of contemporary cognitive science, behavioural psychology, and psychoanalysis. There are growing psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioural literatures on theoretical and clinical approaches to working with trauma. Cognitive and behavioural therapies are generally characterized as short-term, time-limited, problem-focused, structured, and psycho-educational. Psychoanalytic treatment approaches are characterized as longer-term and more exploratory in nature. The nature of the distress following rape and sexual assault has been increasingly documented over recent years. An individual may be treated within a range of NHS mental health services including primary care, trauma services, sexual health services, psychological therapies services, and community mental health teams. The concepts of 'holding' and 'containment' originate in the work of Winnicott. Freud (1912b) identified the concept of transference and distinguished both positive and negative types.