Trauma treatment after sexual abuse for people with developmental disabilities

Trauma treatment after sexual abuse for people with developmental disabilities People with disabilities have an increased vulnerability to experience violence and abuse. Also they have more negative experiences in general and are more often treated in an unpleasant manner. They are therefore at greater risk to develop trauma. Beside that they have fewer capacities to cope with traumatic experiences in a healthy way. For a long time it was thought that people with developmental disabilities couldn’t profit from psychotherapy. Still people with developmental disabilities are being told that they can’t get treatment. In this workshop we will show that psychotherapy is very well possible for people with developmental disabilities and we will show how adjustments can be made to the regular approach to meet the special needs of these people. We will explain that to meet these needs a broader scope is necessary which include therapeutic interventions towards key persons and organizations in their lives. We will introduce two women with mental disabilities who both have been sexually abused. We will tell about the therapy in which we used this broader approach (involving parents, group counselor, church) combined with EMDR, solution focused therapy methods, cognitive behavioral techniques and creative techniques.

Learning Outcomes Participants will know that trauma treatment is possible for people with developmental disabilities. Participants will know adjustments can be made to the regular approach to meet the special needs of people with developmental disabilities. Participants will know how to involve key persons from the network of the developmentally disabled client in order to make trauma treatment work well.

Conference

English

Aafke Scharloo
Leony Coppens

Scharloo, A., & Coppens, L. (2010, Apirl). Trauma treatment after sexual abuse for people with developmental disabilities. Presentation at the 2nd Bi-Annual International European Society for Trauma and Dissociaion Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland