Treating Adults Severely Abused as Children: The Self-Trauma Model (From Child Abuse: New Directions in Prevention and Treatment Across the Lifespan, P 177-204, 1997, David A. Wolfe, Robert J. McMahon, et al., eds. - See NCJ-172926)

• NCJ Number: 172934
• Author(s): J Briere
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 28 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter outlines an integrated approach to the treatment of adults severely abused or neglected as children.

Abstract

The theory on which it is based, the self-trauma model, incorporates aspects of trauma theory, self psychology, cognitive therapy, and behavioral therapy within a developmental perspective. The implications of this model are presented in terms of the specific process, content, and goals of abuse-relevant psychotherapy. The self-trauma model suggests that post-abuse symptomatology generally reflects the survivor's adaptive attempts to maintain internal stability in the face of potentially overwhelming abuse-related pain. It further suggests that many of these symptoms are inborn self-healing procedures that fail only when overwhelming stress or inadequate internal resources motivate the hyperdevelopment of avoidance responses. It should be noted, however, that the long-term psychological effects of severe childhood abuse are often complex and frequently include difficulties beyond the trauma and self-disturbance addressed in this chapter. Notes, references