Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors present an approach to the treatment of the adult incest survivor. This combines cognitive- behavioural, psychodynamic, and family treatment perspectives to encompass the full breadth and scope of the healing and recovery process. While acknowledging the need for the survivor to become conscious of the incestuous experience and its impact, the authors view memory retrieval as only the first step in healing; the ultimate goal is letting go of the past to actively reinvent the present. The book presents specific guidelines for the initial, middle and end phases of the therapy, for family-of-origin therapy, and for treatment of the male incest survivor.

A comprehensive guide to the dynamics of incest and to therapy for survivors.

In addition, some of the major concerns that therapists will have to consider are addressed. Furthermore, the very nature of the material that is presented by these women is so emotionally charged that a case is made for the group to be run by co-therapists and for therapist debriefing. Evaluation of the group is presented in the form of self-report and feedback from the participants and individual therapists. The group could easily be used as the basis for empirical research into its effectiveness. Additionally, it offers the beginning incest therapist a small but concentrated body of information about the population. No conclusions will be drawn about the proposed program since that is beyond the scope of this project.

It is estimated that at least one in four or five women and one out of ten men was sexually abused as a child by a family member. Most of those people continue to suffer in adulthood because of undeserved guilt, anxiety, and shame. Reclaiming Our Lives, written by a survivor of abuse and a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of adult survivors of abuse, uses interviews with survivors and a healing approach to track the adult problems and what to do about them. Issues of trust, power, control, sexuality, and intimacy are examined in detail. The book concludes with an alphabet of survival tactics and a fourteen-step guide for growth for the survivor.