NCJ Number
128882
Date Published
1990
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines an approach to working with gay male survivors of sexual abuse in outpatient group therapy as an important component of their recovery program.
Abstract
The study sample included 27 men, ages 23 to 46, who were included in a chart review of a therapy group for gay men manifesting symptoms of sexual abuse. Depression and anxiety in various forms were common in the group. Approximately one-fifth of the group had made multiple suicide attempts. The central feature in the behavioral patterns of gay abuse victims is the way in which the failure of early mirroring of the elements of an eventual gay identity creates a structural vulnerability in a client's emerging sense of self, necessitating fragmentation of self whenever early abuse or abandonment is re-experienced symbolically. The intense insularity occasioned by internalized shame resulting from both abuse and the discrimination of heterosexism continually distorts a gay survivor's understanding of self and his interpretation of life events. A group consisting only of gay survivors of sexual abuse becomes a primary system that can mirror and affirm the client's sexual orientation in a way that most families of origin cannot. In discussing the group's operation, the chapter considers initial commitment and trust, cohesion, deeper work, and termination. 1 table and 31 references