Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors present an approach to the treatment of the adult incest survivor. This combines cognitive- behavioural, psychodynamic, and family treatment perspectives to encompass the full breadth and scope of the healing and recovery process. While acknowledging the need for the survivor to become conscious of the incestuous experience and its impact, the authors view memory retrieval as only the first step in healing; the ultimate goal is letting go of the past to actively reinvent the present. The book presents specific guidelines for the initial, middle and end phases of the therapy, for family-of-origin therapy, and for treatment of the male incest survivor.

Sam Kirschner

Diana Adile Kirschner,

Richard L. Rappaport

First published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Foreword by Christine A. Courtois, PH.D . .... ix
Introduction . . . . xiii
1. The Incest Survivor Syndrome . . . . 1
2. Determining Who Is a Survivor . . . . 18
3. The Survivor's Family of Origin .... 31
4. Trust, Gender, Power, and the Identity
of the Survivor . . . . 50
5. Family-of-Creation Dynamics . . . . 65
6. Role of the Therapist . . . . 79
7. The Initial Phase of Therapy .... 102
8. The Mid phase of Therapy . . . . 121
9. The Family-of-Origin Work .... 149
10. The Endphase of Therapy .... 173
11. The Male Survivor .... 191
Epilogue . . . . 213
References . ... 215
Name Index .... 221
Subject Index . ... 223