1st Edition
Women’s Disclosure of Childhood Sexual Abuse Across the Life Course A Narrative Perspective
Taking a narrative approach, this book explores the role of disclosure in sexual abuse recovery for women survivors of child sexual abuse.
Drawing on longitudinal research with sexual abuse therapists and de-identified cases drawn from her clinical practice, Pack emphasises the unique value of both a narrative and life course approach to the topic of sexual abuse recovery. The book explores the ages and stages of life as triggering new challenges to adapt to for adult women survivors, evoking the need to develop new ways of acting and being in the world. Conceptualizing disclosure as a process that occurs in relationship with the person disclosed to, it highlights the importance of the quality of the relationship between the survivor and the person confided in, and previous disclosure attempts. Further, the chapters outline individual, contextual and environmental factors that impede or facilitate disclosure, as well as different verbal and non-verbal forms that disclosure can take.
With a focus on the Australasian context, this book is a resourceful guide for mental health professionals and practitioners who work in the field of sexual abuse recovery, as well as those who work with women in refuge situations and other health and well-being services.
Preface: Who this book is for and how it came to be 1. Theoretical frameworks underpinning disclosure for women survivors of CSA 2. Women’s Disclosure of CSA and the importance of narrative across the life course 3. The role of relationship in women’s disclosure of CSA 4. Twenties and Thirties- Education, work, pregnancy and parenting 5. Midlife- Change, consolidation, reformulated identity and the way forward 6. Later Years 60+- Matured Insights integrated in life philosophies; being part of an ageing family, and the Creation of New Memories 7. Disclosure of CSA by Women Survivors’ in the Context of the Global Covid-19 Pandemic 8. Conclusion and the implications for practice with women survivors of CSA across the life Course
Biography
Margaret Pack is Associate Professor at Otago University of Wellington, and counselling co-ordinator at Wellington Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand. She has 10 years of experience as a specialist case manager in a national trauma centre in New Zealand, and clinically supervises counsellors, social workers and mental health professionals.
