Trauma and Abuse Counselling
TRAUMA AND ABUSE COUNSELLING
Case Study
1,750 words
Topic: Childhood Abuse
A lady, Hannah, now in her fifties, has come to see you. The perpetrator was her father, who was highly influential in the church. She (as well as several sisters) was sexually and emotionally abused between the ages of 9 and 16. As a child Hannah made several attempts to disclose the abuse but was unable to feel heard or believed. Hannah has attempted to tell a school nurse, a school friend. She has also approached the elders of the church, only to be told ‘we can’t discuss those things’. She is certain that her mother was aware of the abuse but would not talk about it. She has married twice, and has 4 adult children. Hannah has now approached you as a counsellor as her children are blaming her for their own difficult childhood. Hannah wants to forgive her father (now elderly and unwell) but feels caught between her own childhood family and her 4 adult children. How might you assist Hannah with her needs? Consider any ethical issues that may arise.
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explore and establish how I, as a counsellor might assist a client, Hannah, an adult survivor of Child Sexual Abuse (herein referred to as CSA) with her needs. Such needs will be identified and carefully examined in order to determine resources and strategies that will benefit Hannah as she works towards her goal of forgiving the perpetrator, her elderly father, while working though the issues concerning her feelings of being caught between her family of origin and her own adult children. She believes her mother knew the abuse was happening but was unwilling and unavailable to talk about it. Further to this any ethical issues that might arise will be noted and appropriate responses explored. Hannah is one of several sisters who were all victims of sexual and emotional abuse. Although Hannah wishes to work toward forgiveness of her father her story is intertwined with
Case Study
1,750 words
Topic: Childhood Abuse
A lady, Hannah, now in her fifties, has come to see you. The perpetrator was her father, who was highly influential in the church. She (as well as several sisters) was sexually and emotionally abused between the ages of 9 and 16. As a child Hannah made several attempts to disclose the abuse but was unable to feel heard or believed. Hannah has attempted to tell a school nurse, a school friend. She has also approached the elders of the church, only to be told ‘we can’t discuss those things’. She is certain that her mother was aware of the abuse but would not talk about it. She has married twice, and has 4 adult children. Hannah has now approached you as a counsellor as her children are blaming her for their own difficult childhood. Hannah wants to forgive her father (now elderly and unwell) but feels caught between her own childhood family and her 4 adult children. How might you assist Hannah with her needs? Consider any ethical issues that may arise.
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explore and establish how I, as a counsellor might assist a client, Hannah, an adult survivor of Child Sexual Abuse (herein referred to as CSA) with her needs. Such needs will be identified and carefully examined in order to determine resources and strategies that will benefit Hannah as she works towards her goal of forgiving the perpetrator, her elderly father, while working though the issues concerning her feelings of being caught between her family of origin and her own adult children. She believes her mother knew the abuse was happening but was unwilling and unavailable to talk about it. Further to this any ethical issues that might arise will be noted and appropriate responses explored. Hannah is one of several sisters who were all victims of sexual and emotional abuse. Although Hannah wishes to work toward forgiveness of her father her story is intertwined with
Bibliography: Allender, D. B., Dr. 1995 The Wounded Heart Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse Briere, J. & Scott, C. 2006 Principles of Trauma Therapy. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Daniluk, J.C. & Haverkamp, B.E. 1993 Ethical issues in counseling adult survivors of incest Duncan, B. Miller, S. & Sparks, J. 2000 The Heroic Client. Jossey-Bass Inc., San Francisco, California Hubble, M., Duncan, B., & Miller, S. 1999 The Heart and Soul of Change. APA Press, Washington, D.C Smedes, L. 1996 The Art of Forgiving Summit Publishing Ltd., Milton Keynes, England. Wright, H. N., Dr. 2003 The New Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counselling. Regal Books, Ventura, California.