An assimilation analysis of clinician-assisted emotional disclosure therapy with survivors of intimate partner sexual assault

Psychother Res. 2009 May;19(3):293-311. doi: 10.1080/10503300902810600.

Abstract

This study examined clinician-assisted emotional disclosure therapy among college women with a history of intimate partner sexual assault. Assimilation analysis, a method for tracking client movement in psychotherapy, was used to document changes in dominant and submissive voices during clients' disclosure of the trauma. Self-blame, traditional gender-role assumptions, and internalized rape myth ideology emerged as prominent themes in clients' formations of problem statements. The two case studies presented illustrate the difficulty in clearly formulating experiences of intimate partner sexual assault as problematic, integrating submissive and dominant voices and empowering adaptive voices that speak for the well-being and self-assertion of the individual. Implications for psychotherapy with survivors of intimate partner sexual assault are discussed.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Professional-Patient Relations
  • Psychotherapy / methods*
  • Rape / psychology*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sexual Partners*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / etiology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / therapy*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Survivors / psychology*
  • Truth Disclosure*