Group Therapy for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse: A Practical Guide for Mental Health Professionals

This book presents the therapist with a reflective and robust framework for group treatment that promotes an end to the shame and secrecy so frequently experienced by survivors.

Through a series of tools such as visualisations and art exercises, the practitioner is guided through the process of establishing and running a group in this modality. The synthesis of both an educational and a process-based model is imbued with a sense of warmth and a deep understanding of this client group. Themes such as self-soothing, strengthening boundaries, inner-child work, making meaning of endings, and ways forward drive this therapeutic approach. Taking group work as the optimum matrix for change for this client population, this model provides a convincing rationale for the establishment of said work as best practice in the institutions that provide for their care.

Practicing therapists and mental health nurses will find this new model of therapy an instrumental resource in their approach to treatment for survivors of trauma and abuse.