Adult survivors' of childhood sexual abuse perspectives of services: a systematic review

Chouliara, Zo�; Karatzias, Thanos; Scott-Brien, Georgia; Macdonald, Anne; MacArthur, Juliet; Frazer, Norman

Abstract

Aims: This review summarises and evaluates evidence regarding psychotherapy/counselling services for childhood sexual abuse (CSA) from the survivors' perspective. Methods: Studies were identified from systematic literature searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection. Selected studies were published in English after 1980. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Survivors identified a range of experiences of services. Positive experiences focused mainly on the therapeutic relationship, and the importance of awareness about issues specific to survivors. Negative experiences included taking a sexual interest in clients, dealing ineffectively with errors, being unresponsive, and prescription of heavy medications. Conclusions: There is a lack of research in this area, especially in the UK. Findings were limited due to selection bias, inconsistencies in recruitment and procedure, ill-described samples and analysis. Future research should obtain survivors' perspectives across genders, sexual orientation and ethnic background, and focus more on survivors' negative experiences.

Citation

Chouliara, Z., Karatzias, T., Scott-Brien, G., Macdonald, A., MacArthur, J., & Frazer, N. (2012). Adult survivors' of childhood sexual abuse perspectives of services: a systematic review. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 12, 146-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733145.2012.656136

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2012
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2015
• Print ISSN: 1473-3145
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-1405
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Pages: 146-161
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14733145.2012.656136
• Keywords: childhood sexual abuse; systematic review; experiences;; adult survivors
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/8328
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733145.2012.656136