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Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse

The aim of this study was to explore adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following sexual abuse, complementing those studies that focus on outcomes and measurement of symptom change across the course of therapy and building on recent studies that focus on the process of psychotherapy for young...

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Autores principales: McElvaney, Rosaleen, Monaghan, Andrina, Treacy, Christina, Delaney, Naoise
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PAGEPress Publications, Pavia, Italy 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10481422/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37401470
http://dx.doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2023.630
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author McElvaney, Rosaleen
Monaghan, Andrina
Treacy, Christina
Delaney, Naoise
author_facet McElvaney, Rosaleen
Monaghan, Andrina
Treacy, Christina
Delaney, Naoise
author_sort McElvaney, Rosaleen
collection PubMed
description The aim of this study was to explore adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following sexual abuse, complementing those studies that focus on outcomes and measurement of symptom change across the course of therapy and building on recent studies that focus on the process of psychotherapy for young people who have experienced sexual abuse, from their perspective. Recent reviews have highlighted the need for tailored approaches to therapy. Research is needed that focuses on young people’s experiences of therapy to help develop such tailored approaches. In this study, 16 young people aged 15-18 years who were attending specialist sexual violence therapeutic services were interviewed. Using thematic analysis, six themes were identified as reflecting their experiences of therapy following sexual abuse. Young people spoke of not wanting to attend; the importance of choice and not feeling pressured in both initially attending and in how the therapy unfolded; how helpful it was to talk; the centrality of the relationship with their therapist; the benefit of attending a specialist service; how helpful it was when the therapist explained things; and finally, the coping skills they learned in the therapeutic work. A key learning from the study is the importance of respecting young people's autonomy following such violations of trust and psychological integrity. The study highlights how engagement in therapy may be experienced as a re-enactment of an experience that was forced on the young person. Further qualitative research exploring this phenomenon could guide therapists on how to minimise such re-enactments in therapeutic work.
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spelling pubmed-104814222023-09-07 Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse McElvaney, Rosaleen Monaghan, Andrina Treacy, Christina Delaney, Naoise Res Psychother Article The aim of this study was to explore adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following sexual abuse, complementing those studies that focus on outcomes and measurement of symptom change across the course of therapy and building on recent studies that focus on the process of psychotherapy for young people who have experienced sexual abuse, from their perspective. Recent reviews have highlighted the need for tailored approaches to therapy. Research is needed that focuses on young people’s experiences of therapy to help develop such tailored approaches. In this study, 16 young people aged 15-18 years who were attending specialist sexual violence therapeutic services were interviewed. Using thematic analysis, six themes were identified as reflecting their experiences of therapy following sexual abuse. Young people spoke of not wanting to attend; the importance of choice and not feeling pressured in both initially attending and in how the therapy unfolded; how helpful it was to talk; the centrality of the relationship with their therapist; the benefit of attending a specialist service; how helpful it was when the therapist explained things; and finally, the coping skills they learned in the therapeutic work. A key learning from the study is the importance of respecting young people's autonomy following such violations of trust and psychological integrity. The study highlights how engagement in therapy may be experienced as a re-enactment of an experience that was forced on the young person. Further qualitative research exploring this phenomenon could guide therapists on how to minimise such re-enactments in therapeutic work. PAGEPress Publications, Pavia, Italy 2023-07-04 /pmc/articles/PMC10481422/ /pubmed/37401470 http://dx.doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2023.630 Text en ©Copyright: the Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
spellingShingle Article
McElvaney, Rosaleen
Monaghan, Andrina
Treacy, Christina
Delaney, Naoise
Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title_full Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title_fullStr Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title_full_unstemmed Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title_short Adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
title_sort adolescents’ experiences of psychotherapy following child sexual abuse
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10481422/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37401470
http://dx.doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2023.630
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