NCJ Number
151626
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (1994) Pages: 15-30
Date Published
1994
Length
16 pages
Annotation
To address the limitations of conventional psychotherapy for adolescent and adult incest survivors, a weekend retreat was designed and implemented that brought together adult and adolescent females who were sexually abused as children.
Abstract
The authors developed the retreat after discovering that neither individual treatment nor traditional group treatment thoroughly resolved issues of perceived culpability, positive identification with other survivors, grief, and low self-esteem. The retreat was based on feminist theory, victimization theory, and loss theory. Five retreats have taken place, starting in 1985, with varied content, process, and structure in response to observations and clients' feedback from previous retreats. The retreats effectively addressed the four issues identified earlier. The authors also believe that the success of the retreat resulted from the therapists' prior knowledge of the participants, the trust established between clients and therapists, and the self-selection component. The participants' verbal and written evaluations after each retreat were uniformly enthusiastic. Note, appended agenda, and 23 references (Author abstract modified)