Sexual abuse in families today: group

Group Analysis http://gaq.sagepub.com Sexual Abuse in Families Today: Group Resonance as a Cure
Giovanna Cantarella Group Analysis 2005; 38; 281 DOI: 10.1177/0533316405052384 The online version of this article can be found at: http://gaq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/38/2/281

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Special Issue: Article

Sexual Abuse in Families Today: Group Resonance as a Cure
Giovanna Cantarella
This article focuses on the sexual abuse of females in families within a social context, as a social phenomenon which involves more families than we knew about or believed existed in the past, a phenomenon also involving ‘ordinary’ families we meet in everyday life and which is one aspect of the violence of the world in which we live. Problems arising from alterations in conscience of the victim and for the therapist in recognizing non-verbal communication are examined before the author identifies causes of feelings of self-guilt in the therapist. The therapeutic effectiveness of group resonance is demonstrated in a clinical case study, also showing how group therapy can help a victim of sexual abuse to work through past traumatic experiences. Key words: sexual abuse, family, guilt, countertransference, group resonance

The Triple Wound Of Abused Victims During the 1980s, many historical and social factors contributed to an increase in the number of women who began to consult female analysts rather than their male counterparts. Their objective was to research and