Rape flashbacks: constructing a new narrative.
This article offers an approach to the dissolution of rape flashbacks when the usual treatment of talk and group support doesn't work. The client, with her family, constructs a new rape scenario to replace her abusive story. In the new story, the client introduces a chosen protective figure into the flashback, which has the effect of interrupting the old scenario so that it cannot take place in the same way again. This approach relies on the client finding a new or freed voice in the treatment conversations in order to tell her story differently. The new, repopulated story eventually has the effect of altering her memory and renewing her life direction and belief in herself.
Penn
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Ackerman Institute for the Family, New York, NY 10021, USA. 105156.134@compuserve.com
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*