The consequences of childhood sexual abuse on the conjugal life of a young woman and the effects of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy as a method of treatment
The consequences of childhood sexual abuse on the conjugal life of a young woman and the effects of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy as a method of treatment

Summary/Abstract: In the present study the research focus is on the consequences of childhood sexual abuse in conjugal life and the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy in the case of a female survivor of childhood sexual abuse who experienced marital problems. The client engaged in three years of psychodynamic psychotherapy with the request of improving her relationship with her husband. Central to the problems she was facing in her marriage was the sexual abuse she endured as a teenager by her father, which is a main theme processed throughout the therapeutic process, as it has shaped her attachment style and has been an inhibitory factor in her relationships with men. In order to assess the impact of psychodynamic psychotherapy in the present case three tests were used in the beginning and the end of the therapy. To begin with, she completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) Questionnaire, and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which allowed us to understand in depth her attachment patterns, evaluate her marital situation and explore her inner and intra-personal world, as well as interpersonal couple and family functioning. The therapeutic approach employed in this case is discussed, as well as her responses to the above tests at the beginning and the end of therapy.

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