Therapy Matters: Childhood abuse is a trauma for life

By Director of Mental Wellness, Gail Byers

 

Typically during sessions the client is asked to tell about their childhood experiences, like who raised them, any significant experiences (loss of parents) etc. 

 

This particular client had participated in a group the evening before on child sexual abuse.  In discussing her childhood experiences she stated “I started prostituting when I was nine years old.  Old Mr. Jones would pay me all the time to sit on his lap.  I would take the money and buy candy and stuff.” 

 

As a therapist I often am the recipient of statements that are meant to shock.  However, such statements are really asking for clarification and/or validation. 

 

We reviewed the subject content of the previous group and the client literally had an ‘ah-hah’ moment.  She asked, “then I was not a prostitute?’ 

 

I responded, “no, you were a child, you were victimized.”  Her whole countenance changed with a sense of relief. 

 

This client, a 45 year old woman, believed this notion of being a prostitute, beginning at age nine, for thirty six years.  You can only imagine the impact that this belief has had on her self-worth and the decisions she has made in her life thus far.

 

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”