Hearing the Internal Trauma: Working with Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused (Interpersonal Violence Practice Series, Band 17)

An innovative clinical approach to working with children and adolescents who have been sexually abused - the Internalization Model - is presented in this volume. It is designed to increase the therapist's recognition and understanding of the effects of such abuse on a young victim's internal sense of self and world.

The author argues that abuse-related internalizations, not the symptomatic behaviours resulting from these internalizations, need to be addressed in therapy. Wieland describes a psychodynamic trauma-focused therapy - which includes aspects of psychoanalytic, behavioural and cognitive therapies - which has resulted in positive changes such as children beginning to engage in age-appropriate play and adolescents feeling more sure of themselves. The book also includes a discussion of how a therapist's own internalizations might affect the therapeutic experience.