ABSTRACT
TOPIC: Toxic shame and the concomitant fear of feeling are core issues needing to be addressed during group therapy with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. PURPOSE: To increase awareness of the toxic shame that survivors experience and to describe the impact of group therapy based on a family systems model. SOURCE: The authors' clinical experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Symptom management, repatterning of cognitive distortions, and the improvement of self-care strategies are identified as crucial aspects of healing shame-based feelings and behaviors. Group treatment offers members the opportunity to cease reenacting family rules and roles that create toxic shame.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Family Therapy/methods , Family/psychology , Fear , Psychiatric Nursing/methods , Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Shame , Survivors/psychology , Adult , Attitude to Health , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Models, Nursing , Role , Self Care/methods , Self Care/psychologyABSTRACT
TOPIC: How advanced practice nurses can work with trauma survivors to decrease dissociation as a needed coping mechanism. PURPOSE: To review the literature on trauma and dissociation as well as current treatment perspectives. SOURCES: Review of the literature and authors' clinical experience. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced practice nurses can use knowledge of selected psychopharmacological medications and Erikson's stages of psychosocial development to plan treatment for posttrauma clients.