Not Trauma Alone: Therapy for Child Abuse Survivors in Family and Social Context (Series in Trauma and Loss) [Hardcover]

Steven Gold (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1583910271 | ISBN-13: 978-1583910276 | Publication Date: June 21, 2000 | Edition: 1

How is an individual to lead a comfortable, productive existence when he or she was never taught the skills necessary for effective living? Adult survivors of child abuse often face this dilemma. Instead of being nurtured as children and taught life-skills by their caregivers, child abuse survivors were subjected to a daily regimen of coercive control, contempt, rejection and emotional unresponsiveness. It is not surprising, therefore, that many survivors encounter difficulty adjusting from this type of damaging childhood atmosphere to one in which they have autonomy. This book addresses the particular problems associated with treating adult survivors of child abuse. Until now, psychotherapy for child abuse survivors often centered on the trauma of their abuse experiences. However, survivors frequently reveal a history suggesting it was not abuse trauma alone that created their difficulties, but growing up essentially alone - without the consistent emotional support and guidance needed for development of effective functioning. This book presents an alternative to trauma-focused treatment that, though effective for treatment of other forms of trauma, can induce deteriorated rather than improved functioning in survivors of prolonged childhood maltreatment. The contextual therapy presented in Not Trauma Alone delineates a psychotherapeutic approach that emphasizes helping survivors develop the capacities for effective functioning that were never transmitted to them during their formative years. Detailed descriptions of the methods and interventions comprising contextual therapy are included in this critical book for all mental health professionals, clinicians, academics, and students in the field.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...this book is a thought-provoking alternative way of approaching a difficult treatment population. It will lead many readers to question the accepted wisdom of their preferred approaches to PCA survivors, and it offers concrete treatment strategies that many will wish to try for themselves. -- Journal of Trauma & Dissociation
Gold's sensitivity to the traumatized patient is everywhere in evidence throughout this volume... This represents a bold step forward. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as a worthwhile addition, not only to the trauma literature, but to our understanding of the human condition. -- American Journal of Psychotherapy
Dr. Gold has contributed a much-needed resource to assist clinicians in working with individuals reporting prolonged childhood abuse. This book represents a significant shift in treatment of child abuse survivors in that Gold purports that direct confrontation of the traumatic incidents may be one aspect of treatment for survivors, but should not be the primary focus for most survivors. The book is written so as to make it easy to put principles and guidelines into practice. -- Trauma, Violence & Abuse
Not Trauma Alone brings forward in a practical and insightful manner the perception that traumatic resolution can occur outside of the abuse-focused therapy that many of us have been trained in... Dr. Gold has masterfully provided many learners and clinicians an additional approach to treatment that is likely, in my opinion, to impact on not only how treatment happens, but also its very definition. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! -- National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity News
Steven Gold offers therapeutic efforts and treatment techniques that serve to support client-therapist connection and renewed accountability to wellness, using a present-day focus that cultivates adaptive living skills...This is an essential and rewarding read that promises to enrich the texture of treatment for both clinicians treating adult survivors of child abuse as well as by traumatologists struggling to help any number of people throughout the world. -- Sidran Institute
This book is about post-modern psychotherapy for people abused as children; a systems sensitive, transgenerational, goal-oriented, respectful approach to helping people of all ages confront, manage, and draw strength from overcoming a legacy of maltreatment. From the first moment I understood Professor Gold's thesis, I knew that this gentle and wise approach had great promise for a wide group of traumatized people. -- Charles R. Figley
Steven Gold is a skilled clinical researcher with a special affinity, understanding, and empathy for the plight of adult survivors of pervasive and prolonged abuse. Not Trauma Alone is an important book and a brave clinical contribution due to its shift away from a strict abuse-trauma orientation to one that is more trauma-responsive and more encompassing. -- Christine Courtois

Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (June 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583910271
• ISBN-13: 978-1583910276
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Trauma Alone, March 26, 2007

By 

Derek Everard (Vernon, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Not Trauma Alone: Therapy for Child Abuse Survivors in Family and Social Context (Series in Trauma and Loss) (Hardcover)

Excellent viewpoints from different angles. I read it from a 'victim in recovery' view. I identified with the entire book. It does not cover the more unusual aspect of the victim living in fear of losing his life at the hands of his mother as in my case; but does cover very fully the more usual traumas in the family context of PCB (Prolonged Child Abuse). I read it all through, then started all over again - slowly - with my yellow highlighter. It gave me confirmation and great respect of Steven Gold's immense research and practical experience in this area. One can see 'Dissociation' in action from the social family viewpoint. Definitely a good study/read for those dealing with trauma victims as survivors or those in recovery. This is reality. (We are not alone!)

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This should be on every therapist's bookshelf, October 14, 2005

By 

Sandra Read (Bedfordshire, England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Not Trauma Alone: Therapy for Child Abuse Survivors in Family and Social Context (Series in Trauma and Loss) (Hardcover)

This is a book you have to have. It's an `I can't put it down' book. It makes you wonder how you ever managed to work with traumatized clients without it. It makes you realise why you weren't getting anywhere, why what you were doing in therapy wasn't good enough to help clients move on from their past trauma.

Traditionally therapy with this group of clients focussed heavily on the trauma. This book takes the reader beyond that. For once a book is looking at more than just the trauma in the past as something to be dealt with. It shows the reader why difficulties today must be tackled in a different way when the client has a trauma history than with other clients. But it opens your eyes to ways to work with other clients too.

When I am asked to recommend a book for therapists with trauma clients this is the one I choose. It is the only book that helps one understand why everyday life is so difficult for such clients, something no other book does in such depth or in such a useful way. Reading this book is like waking up to what life is really like for this group of clients; you will never see a client in the same way again. Now you will know why they behave as they do, why making changes is so difficult and why what works with other client groups doesn't work so well when the client comes from an abusive or neglectful family.

Steve Gold shows clearly how incidents of abuse are set within a family context that does not provide the tools for dealing with everyday life in an effective manner. Because of the general family context in which ongoing abuse occurs, these clients have always lacked vital coping mechanisms and abilities that are usually learned during an adequate childhood. The model proposed gives one a framework to work effectively and help the client face both the fears of the past and the fears of today. It places the trauma processing within a therapy that enables the client to grow rather than staying focussed on trauma alone. It provides the reader with a model to use to effectively understand, assess and teach the vital abilities that were never taught in childhood. It opens your eyes to the context in which these clients developed all their strategies to cope, ones that do not help them now.

This is a book that mustn't be missed. It is one you will take off the shelf again and again. Whatever DSM category your client fits into, if they have problems that arose from a traumatic childhood this is the book to guide you. It is the most important book you will ever buy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Survivor's" perspective., February 7, 2008

By 

Christopher Anderson (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Not Trauma Alone: Therapy for Child Abuse Survivors in Family and Social Context (Series in Trauma and Loss) (Hardcover)

I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Gold at a conference in New York City for male survivors of CSA and was blown away by the presentation he gave. I was even more impressed by the brief discussions we had after his presentation. Dr. Gold is a therapist of rare insight, patience, dedication, and intellect (all essential traits in anyone who works with suriviors).

Not Trauma Alone is a standout work in the field of working with clients who have experience prolonged periods of childhood abuse. (And it's a tragically rare book in this area as well).

His work shows the limitations of viewing us through the lens of trauma alone. Though it's easy to grasp onto the horror of the experience of sexual abuse and see that as the lynchpin of the problems that adult survivors face, the truth is that these attacks often happen in a much broader context of a childhood marked by neglect, abandonment, fear, and powerlessness. This experience can often leave a child marked and vulnerable to the manipulations of abusers, but more importantly this kind of upbringing leaves the adult who survives struggling to adapt and feel comfortable living in a complex world.

This book is essential reading for any therapist who has clients who have suffered from significant childhood abuse, and for any survivor who is looking to gain a greater understanding of why they feel the way they do.