Jul
12
Sexualized Adolescents
There are a number of adolescents who have experienced profound sexual abuse at the hands of guardians, parents or others who had access to them in the home, school and community. Depending on the age at the onset of abuse, these children and adolescents have a particular set of concerns that are not treated effectively with standard forms of therapy. Often, when traditional psychotherapy is used with these individuals, it can thwart progress, or even cause reversals in well-being. Direct lines of questioning and the problem-solving model can strengthen the patient’s defenses, leaving helping professionals and parents at a loss for how to approach this delicate problem.
What kind of therapy works? The first and best approach lies in recognizing that a direct line of questioning will usually cause a tremendous amount of resistance, and that talking about the abuse takes place much later in the therapeutic process. The adage, “what you resist persists” is in play here, and the therapist must recognize the danger in “processing” with the patient. Instead, the helping professional must begin to work with psychological resistance through acknowledging “the elephant in the room” without at first trying to unveil the elephant. Noticing with the patient the impact to them that their strategies have caused is the first line of intervention. For instance, when the adolescent says, “I don’t know,” this often means, “I do know, but I’m not going to talk about it with you.” Depending on the person’s resiliency, the therapist can begin to navigate the resistance and notice with the patient this recurring way of thinking, how it keeps them re-creating the problem and how they can begin to move out of old behaviors to learn new ones. If you or someone you know is interested in scheduling a Sexualized Adolescent Risk assessment, please contact our office at 336-389-1413 for more information.
