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Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors
Author(s) -
MacIntosh Heather B.,
Johnson Susan
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2008.00074.x
Subject(s) - hypervigilance , sexual abuse , thematic analysis , clinical psychology , psychology , psychotherapist , child sexual abuse , childhood abuse , child abuse , medicine , suicide prevention , poison control , psychiatry , qualitative research , anxiety , medical emergency , social science , sociology
This study explored Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples with childhood sexual abuse survivors (CSA) and their partners. Half of the couples in this study reported clinically significant increases in mean relationship satisfaction and clinically significant decreases in trauma symptoms, and thematic analyses identified numerous areas where trauma survivors were challenged in fully engaging in the therapy process. In particular, trauma symptoms such as affect dysregulation and hypervigilance were identified to play a role in the challenges that survivors experienced in fully engaging in the EFT process. Results of these thematic analyses yielded clinical recommendations for working with CSA survivors and their partners in EFT for traumatized couples. Recommendations for future study were articulated.