It is of little surprise then that only 30 percent of incest cases are reported by survivors. More than any other type of child abuse, incest is associated with secrecy, betrayal, powerlessness, guilt, conflicted loyalty, fear of reprisal and self-blame/shame. These trauma-forged coping skills form the foundation for present and future interpersonal interactions and often become first-line responses to all or most levels of distress-producing circumstances. Incest that begins at a young age and continues for protracted periods - the average length of incest abuse is four years - often results in avoidance-based coping skills (for example, avoidance of relationships and various dissociative phenomena). Failed institutional responses: shaming, blaming, ineffectual effort.Observed or reported incest that continues.High degree of force, coercion and intimidation.
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This can often lead to entering a series of abusive relationships.Īccording to Christine Courtois ( Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy) and Richard Kluft (“Ramifications of incest” in Psychiatric Times), greater symptom severity for incest survivors is associated with: As a result, victims frequently associate the abuse with a distorted form of caring and affection that later negatively influences their choice of romantic relationships. One particularly damaging result of incest is trauma bonding, in which survivors incorporate the aberrant views of their abusers about the incestuous relationship. Additional symptoms include low self-esteem, self-loathing, somatization, low self-efficacy, pervasive interpersonal difficulties and feelings of contamination, worthlessness, shame and helplessness. They are also more likely to report being estranged from one or both parents and having been shamed by others when they tried to share their experience. For example, survivors of father-daughter incest are more likely to report feeling depressed, damaged and psychologically injured than are survivors of other types of child abuse. However, child sexual abuse committed by a parent or other relative - that is, incest - is associated with particularly severe psychological symptoms and physical injuries for many survivors. This article explores the psychological and interpersonal aspect of child sexual abuse by a parent and its treatment, with a particular focus on its relationship to betrayal trauma, dissociation and complex trauma.Ĭhild abuse of any kind by a parent is a particularly negative experience that often affects survivors to varying degrees throughout their lives. The motivating factor for many of these clients is mistrust of people in general - and often for good reason.
Ironically, attempts at reassurance by the counselor may actually serve to validate these clients’ fears of abandonment. Furthermore, they may anxiously expect the counselor to abandon them and thus increase pressure on the counselor to prove otherwise. They may rapidly shift their notion of the counselor from very favorable to very unfavorable in line with concomitant shifts in their emotional states.
For instance, these clients often struggle with establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance. Adults with histories of being abused as children present unique challenges for counselors.
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