The therapeutic relationship as the foundation for treatment with adult survivors of sexual abuse.

Abstract

Survivors of sexual abuse enter psychotherapy with special needs that challenge some of the traditional therapeutic assumptions. The therapeutic relationship, which is the foundation for treatment with abuse survivors, often must shift in nature and quality to address these needs. The main goal of treatment is the integration of self and affective experience. To facilitate this process the authors discuss the establishment and maintenance of an "affective edge" which allows for direct attention to and intervention with the trauma memories and the accompanying affect.

Alliance development in therapy for resolving child abuse issues.

“…Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Sandra Paivio, Ph.D., University of Windsor, 401 Sunset, Windsor Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4. E-mail: paivio @uwindsor.ca LORRAINE A. PATTERSON University of Saskatchewan (Briere, 1992;Courtois, 1992;Herman, 1992;Olio & Cornell, 1993). The literature also suggests that such a relationship can be particularly difficult to cultivate for these individuals.…”

The Development and Initial Validation of the Empathy Scale for Social Workers

“…Indeed, the process skills of the worker provide the potential for change, and have been identified by social work clients as the single most important factor in treatment success. Empathy and other similar constructs repeatedly appear in the literature examining the therapeutic relationship (TR; Coady & Marziali, 1994; Lejuez, Hopko, Levine, Gholkar, & Collins, 2006; Olio & Cornell, 1993). The field emphasizes empathy, tolerance, and genuine concern for the welfare of vulnerable populations in society and social work outcome research continues to support the empathic and intuitive nature of successful social work practice (Smith, Thomas, & Jackson, 2004; Tevithick, 2003).…”

“…The TR has been identified as a significant agent of change and growth in a variety of helping relationships and clinical settings (Allen-Meares & Burman, 1999; Lambert & Barley, 2001; Olio & Cornell, 1993; Stewart, 1984). This consists in part, of a sense of trust and a bond between the therapist and client (Dykeman, Nelson, & Appleton, 1995).…”

Perspectives on delayed memories: A Q-methodological study.

“…None of the factors considered spanking to be a childhood tragedy. Every perspective agreed that DM should be approached from an unbiased perspective that focuses more on improving current functioning and generating a coherent life narrative, than on recovering veridical accounts of delayed memories (see Olio & Cornell, 1994).…”