PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA

Terrifying experiences that rupture people's sense of predictability and invulnerability can profoundly alter the ways that they subsequently deal with their emotions and with their environment. The syndrome of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can follow such widely different stressors as war trauma, physical and sexual assaults, accidents, and other natural and man-made disasters.

The treatment for sexual trauma has three principal components: 1) processing and coming to terms with the horrifying, overwhelming experience, 2) controlling and mastering physiological and biological stress reactions, 3) re-establishing secure social connections and interpersonal efficacy.

The aim of these therapies is to help the traumatized individual to move from being dominated and haunted by the past to being in the here and now, capable of responding to current exigencies with his or her fullest potential.

PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS
The key element of psychotherapy for people with PTSD resulting from sexual trauma is the integration of the alien, unacceptable, the terrifying, and the incomprehensible. Psychotherapy must address two fundamental aspects of PTSD: the deconditioning of anxiety, and the pervasive effects that the trauma has on the way victims view themselves and the world. The therapy will focus on stabilization, the identification of feelings by verbalizing somatic states, deconditioning of traumatic memories and responses, restructuring of trauma-related schemes of internal and external reality, and exposure to restuitive experiences.

GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY
When indicated, group therapy will be recommended. The aim of group therapy is to help people actively attend to the requirements of the moment, without undue intrusions from past perceptions and experiences. It is widely regarded as a treatment of choice for persons with trauma histories. People generally notice that by working out their problems in a small group they find that they are able to face the larger group, i.e., their world, in an easier manner.

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS
All clients will be assessed in order to determine if a psychiatric evaluation would be indicated so as to make them more available for psychotherapy. In open studies and clinical reports, usefulness has been claimed for certain psychopharmacological medications in the treatment of PTSD.

SELF-HELP PROGRAMS
Persons who manifest addictive behavior due to alcohol and/or other drug abuse will be strongly encouraged to participate in a 12-step program.