A 2013 study evaluated variables collected by a child advocacy center to determine influence on the treatment of children receiving services for abuse. Results found a big difference in child abuse victims who “received counseling services had more appointment cancellations with primary caregiving mothers as opposed to fathers” (Gonzalez, 2013). The mothers were found to be more afraid of treatment than the fathers of children who were abused, which was not what the researcher had originally hypothesized.
PTSD interventions. In a journal article written by Alan Carr in 2004, he details an evidence-based assessment and treatment plan for children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder due to trauma.
Key components of effective treatment are psycho-education about trauma reactions, sustained exposure to trauma-related cues and memories until habituation occurs, coping skills training for children to help them manage anxiety, and parent training to equip parents with the skills to help them facilitate their children’s recovery. (Carr, 2004)
Once Carr wrote this “protocol” for treating children with posttraumatic stress disorder, he and other researchers performed a study to see how the plan worked for children. Compared to a control group referred to social services, child sexual abuse survivors aged 7 to 13 years old with “clinically significant PTSD symptomatology [sic]” who participated showed fewer PTSD symptoms after participating in therapy.
Most research on childhood sexual abuse has almost strictly centered on negative outcomes, however it is still important to understand how some individuals can still thrive after traumatic incidents. It is also hard to collect accurate and consistent statistics on child sexual abuse because of erratic national reporting and the varying definitions of what is considered abuse. The adverse child experiences (ACE) study found that approximately 25 percent of women and 16 percent of men reporting sexual abuse as children. (McElheran, Briscoe-Smith, Khaylis, Westrup, Hayward, & Gore-Felton, 2012) Given the short- and long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse on different outcomes, it is “surprising that not every child is a victim of abuse develops PTSD or other psychiatric disorders” (McElheran et al., 2012).
Carrie A. Cooper, MA, LMFT
For the interview portion of the paper, I interviewed Carrie A. Cooper, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), and soon to be a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC), working for Kaiser Permanente. She has a private practice where she specializes in EMDR, play therapy, and children/adolescent therapy. Carrie A. Cooper is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and teaches online psychology courses for the University of Phoenix.
Through the course of the interview, Cooper made it apparent she has a lot of experience with this population (CSA victims and perpetrators) during her 12 years of practicing. “I worked for...