Even From A Broken Web: Brief, Respectful Solution-Oriented Therapy for Sexual Abuse and Trauma - Softcover

Bertolino Ph. D., Bob; O'Hanlon, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393703940 ISBN 13: 9780393703948

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002

Synopsis

In recent years, more and more people have been coming to therapy with the problem of the after-effects of sexual abuse.

In this book, Bill O’Hanlon, a co-developer of solution-oriented therapy, and Bob Bertolino, provide clinicians with forward-looking, respectful therapy that taps into and honors people’s inherent learning abilities. Their treatment model is a major departure from most addressing sexual abuse victims: it is less traumatic, less painful, and less disruptive to people’s lives.

About this title

From the Publisher

This book outlines a brief, solution-focused approach to treating sexual abuse survivors, providing a clear, accessible guide to using problem-focused/solution-oriented psychotherapy with sexual abuse patients. Most professional books on the treatment of sexual abuse propose long-term models focusing on retrieving and processing memories of abuse. Instead, this book offers a brief, solution-oriented approach to treatment which stresses the present and future. Using stories, analogies, case examples, this accessible manual shows therapists how to apply the powerful and practical solution-oriented approach to the "3-D after-effects of sexual abuse": Dissociation, Disowning, and Devaluing.

From the Inside Flap

The terrible emotional aftereffects suffered by victims of sexual abuse are well established and, according to conventional therapeutic wisdom, can only be treated through years of traditional therapy using regression and catharsis. Even from a Broken Web offers an effective alternative for clinicians working with these clients—a solution-oriented approach that is respectful, collaborative, flexible, and, in most cases, mercifully brief. Rather than continually revisiting the past and focusing on the problem, Even from a Broken Web proposes a way for sexual abuse victims to move into the present and the future, escaping repetitive patterns of thinking, perception, feeling, action, and interaction. First outlining the "3-D" aftereffects of sexual abuse: Dissociation, Disowning, and Devaluing, Bill O’Hanlon and Bob Bertolino explain three pathways out of these emotional ruts. First, solution-oriented inner work helps clients rediscover aspects of daily experience they have devalued. By imagining themselves thinking, feeling, and doing things in different ways, clients next create a compelling vision of themselves in the future. The final pathway includes identifying and changing existing patterns of thought and behavior. Each of these pathways enables clients to use and develop strengths, skills, and resources they already possess. Once the client discovers these pathways, the journey to solution can be remarkably swift. The process of discovering these abilities requires therapists to work with clients, as opposed to directing them. The authors provide numerous examples of how to practice solution-oriented therapy with individuals, couples, and groups, and they demonstrate how to apply solution-oriented techniques in a variety of situations.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0393703940
• ISBN 13: 9780393703948
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 210