Aimed at psychotherapists and counsellors who work with adults, this workshop – with globally acclaimed Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) expert Christiane Sanderson starts with the premise that most children who have experienced sexual abuse in the family normalise their experience as they have no point of reference to compare their experience. This is especially the case in sibling sexual abuse which is often normalised and minimised leading to delayed trauma in later adulthood. Given the shame and secrecy surrounding sexual abuse in the family it frequently remains undiagnosed as an underlying cause for a range of long-term physical and mental health manifestations in adults including:

• complex post-traumatic stress reactions
• trauma related dissociation
• eating disorders, self-harm, addiction to alcohol or drugs
• negative self-beliefs, depression
• trauma related shame, social anxiety
• compromised sexuality and suicidal ideation

This ground-breaking webinar aims to unravel the nature and dynamics of CSA within the family by biological as well as blended family members, adults as well as siblings and peers, including cousins. We will examine the factors that:

• prevent disclosure by survivors including the role of secrecy, shame, normalisation, distortion of reality, and
• the need that survivors feel to protect family members – for fear of breaking up the family or become scapegoated

These factors contribute significantly to delayed trauma manifestations in survivors.

Our aim is to equip psychotherapists and counsellors with the skills they need to:

• understand the principles of Power Threat Meaning Framework, Trauma Informed Practice and the Phased Oriented Approach to Trauma Recovery – and how these can be included in our repertoire of therapeutic skills that can help adult survivors of interfamilial sexual abuse
• Recognise the need for trauma safe adjustments when using somatic interventions such as breathing and mindfulness
• Evaluate how we need to modify grounding skills and techniques that promote emotional self-regulation, distress tolerance and widening of the window of tolerance – specifically when working with this client set
• We will recognise the power and control dynamics used in CSA in families such as silence, secrecy, shame, distortion of reality and denial to minimise the risk of disclosure as well as the need to protect the family
• Consider how to develop an individualised toolbox to aid recovery – that breaks the shackles of shame and guilt

Overall, the impact of CSA and its link to trauma and delayed trauma reactions will be explored alongside the principles of trauma informed practice to equip practitioners with essential skills when working with survivors, to make the link between presenting symptom and a history of CSA, while enabling them to reclaim reality in order to heal and recover from CSA in the family.

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