"Jag fick en beställning: ´Jag vill hitta mig själv`" - Behandlares upplevelser av hur sexuella övergrepp påverkar den utsattes respektive behandlarens identitet
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of the study was to examine therapists’ experiences of how identity is affected in adult survivors of sexual abuse, and how the identity of therapists is influenced by working with this client group. Eight therapists in Sweden and the Netherlands were interviewed based on semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used as a method, based on an existential hermeneutical approach. Data shows, analyzed with existential theories, that sexual trauma had a clear impact on identity. The survivor appeared to experience a change in the feeling of being oneself, valuing oneself, security, worldview, beliefs, meaning in life and social relationships. The feeling of being a coherent being, to have continuity in life, and to believe in a future, was other aspects of identity that changed after the abuse. Removing the blame from oneself, valuing oneself, integrating the trauma with the rest of the life-story, having a clear worldview or beliefs, having a community, and seeing the trauma as an opener to new hope, direction and meaning in life, are factors that seemed to help the survivor to develop a new healthy identity. The therapists experienced a personal change in worldview and an increased desire to be a voice for their clients.
Author: Elisabeth Marklund
Language: Swedish
Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1640880505