Clinical issues in the cognitive analytic therapy of sexually abused women who commit violent offences against their partners.
Clinical issues arising in the cognitive analytic therapy (CAT; Ryle, 1990) are described for seven sexually abused women who committed violent offences against their partners in intimate relationships. Two principal findings are reported; firstly, support is provided for the original hypothesis of Pollock & Kear-Colwell (1994) in that, following the offence, the women perceived themselves as 'guilty aggressors' and disavowed the role of their own victimization in the commission of the offence; secondly, psychometric data suggested that dissociative states were reported as common experiences for the women before, during and after the offence. The relationship between the abusing-victimized reciprocal role procedure, affective functioning, dissociative states and violent acts is discussed. Themes encountered in the application of CAT for these women are described and a case report is used to illustrate specific treatment issues.
Pollock
P H
PH
Hutton Centre, St Lukes Hospital, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, UK.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010553:Personality Development; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*