Child sexual abuse and couple therapy

Abstract

Abstract There has been a dramatic increase in recent years in our awareness and understanding of the incidence, causes and treatment of child sexual abuse. However, the impact of such experiences on victims' adult intimate relationships and in particular, the implications of such experiences for the focus and process of couple therapy has remained substantially ignored. This article seeks to remedy this situation by considering the research evidence relating to child sexual abuse and exploring the complex links between child sexual abuse and couple problems. Our contention is that in the light of this evidence, couple therapists can now no longer afford to ignore the possible existence and impact of early childhood experiences of sexual abuse in their work with couples and that, apart from the therapeutic importance of addressing such issues, such work may have a significant contribution to make in breaking the ‘cycle of abuse’.