The Use of Narrative Therapy and Internal Family Systems with Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Historically, accounts of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have been culturally and professionally dismissed. The emerging trend in society is one that facilitates healthier grieving and the ability to story the losses brought on by trauma. By examining the way in which CSA has been addressed in the past and reviewing the literature on grief and the dynamics of oppression, this paper seeks to address the need to better understand how to engage our clients in the therapeutic experiences of healing and the liberation of their subjugated stories. Informed by Narrative and Internal Family Systems theories, the authors propose unique interventions that better inform clinicians how to assist clients in making a meaning out of their losses related to CSA.

Key Words:

• Childhood sexual abuse
• oppression
• narrative therapy
• internal family systems
• grief
• feminist family therapy