Treating the Trauma of Rape: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD [Paperback]

Edna B. Foa PhD (Author), Barbara Olasov Rothbaum PhD ABPP (Author), Edna B. Foa (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572307366 | ISBN-13: 978-1572307360 | Publication Date: December 15, 2001 | Edition: 1

Informed by the latest research and written by two of the leading authorities in the field, this invaluable resource presents step-by-step guidelines for assessing and treating sexual assault survivors suffering from PTSD. The book provides a clear review of the treatment literature and guides the clinician in designing individualized cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for traumatized women. Complete instructions are given for sensitively gathering needed information and delivering effective time-limited interventions. Enhancing the book's clinical utility are numerous case examples illustrating how to implement core cognitive-behavioral techniques and deal with common problems and complications in treatment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A splendid book.... The book opens with a vivid, gripping account of rape trauma that underscores the terror of sexual violence. Turning next to the scientific literature, the authors review studies on epidemiology, psychopathology, and treatment for rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder, and interpret these data within the framework of Foa's emotional processing theory. In addition to being a first-rate work of scholarship, this book provides detailed, explicit guidance on how to conduct state-of-the-art treatment for survivors of sexual assault. Accordingly, this excellent book is essential reading for mental health professionals who work with women who have been raped." --Richard J. McNally, PhD, Department of Psychology, Harvard University

"All of the treatment description chapters are particularly wonderful. They provide great detail on length of sessions and all of the specific procedures. In addition, invaluable case examples are provided and specific problems that may come up are addressed. This book will be an incredible resource for clinicians and academicians. The authors are to be commended on this excellent body of work and their ability to describe it with such thoroughness and detail." --Heidi Resnick, PhD, Associate Professor, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina

"Written by internationally acknowledged experts in research and practice, this excellent book provides clear, step-by-step guidance in how to plan and implement an empirically validated treatment for rape trauma. It is essential reading for trauma researchers and clinicians." --David M. Clark, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital

"This book is at once both scholarly and practical. It blends state-of-the-art scientific information about the nature of traumatic reactions with practical clinical guidelines for conducting cognitive-behavioral therapy with rape victims. The step-by-step instructions for conducting individual exposure therapy are especially well-formulated. This is certainly the book I will use in my graduate school teaching and for guiding my own treatment efforts with rape victims. The book is outstanding!" --David W. Foy, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Graduate School, Education and Psychology, Pepperdine University

From the Back Cover

A splendid book....The authors review studies on epidemiology, psychopathology, and treatment for rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder, and interpret these data within the framework of Foa's emotional processing theory. In addition to being a first-rate work of scholarship, this book provides detailed, explicit guidance on how to conduct state-of-the-art treatment for survivors of sexual assault. (Richard J. McNally, PhD, Harvard University) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572307366
• ISBN-13: 978-1572307360
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Abuse & Self Defense > Rape

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About time!, May 21, 2000

By 

"allicnb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treating the Trauma of Rape: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD (Hardcover)

Treating the Trauma of Rape may be heavy fare for survivors and their families...however, it is a complete treatment manual for therapists. The step by step explanations of treatment tactics...even the controversial ones...makes this a valuable tool in any therapist's practice. There are straight-forward styles of treatment, problems and cases that make the reading simple but not easy on the spirit. Not a self-help book by any means...share it with your doctor or with your client.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A linear, step by step guide for therapists, January 31, 2011

By 

Andrea Rogers, LCSW (Redondo Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Treating the Trauma of Rape: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD (Paperback)

This book guided me through the treatment of the survivor of a horrendous sexual assault. The work we did, using the techniques in this book, led this resilient young woman back to health. She was even able to tolerate the aftermath of a criminal prosecution of the rapist, thanks to Edna Foa's brilliant approach. I learned from the book and I learned from the patient. A compassionate, thorough approach to treatment.

14 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent exemplifications of the egregious flaws of CBT, February 22, 2007

By 

John H. Mcfadden (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Treating the Trauma of Rape: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD (Paperback)

Unfortunately, I loaned my copy of this book and can't provide exact quotes to make my case. But I remember enough to make my main point. The problem with CBT, as exemplified in this book, is that the authors are grossly unempathic and moralistic, therefore, fated to generate only accommodating clients who disrespect their interiors. This is a prescription for repression and symptom substitution.

To make my case, I refer readers to therapy sessions in which clients are cheer led and otherwise cajoled to reimagine their rape experiences. Clients report that reliving the experience is near as grueling as the rape was. The sweetly delivered message of this therapy is, "Get over it." There's no sense that the fears these people experience are complicated and, ultimately, useful experiences full of shame about feeling afraid and longings for comforting and other expressions of profound, live giving sympathy.

Gradually, clients desensitize in the hands of these therapists' cruel regimen. They get over their fears, but the side-effects--the loss of contact with and disempathy toward rich inner experiences--are egregious. This truly is a triumph of moralistic thinking in which therapists conceive of negative thoughts--read, parts of the self--as impulses that must be gotten rid of.

The authors obliquely respond to this critique of their core work and try to dispel it, saying that they are not promoting positive thinking. But that's exactly what this therapy is.

Okay, so I'm being brutal too. I'm hoping that the spiteful elements of my critique are viewed as understandable human reactions to what many prominent therapists think of as an inhumane therapy. It's reasonable to be angry at a therapy one perceives as damaging, especially when some of one's friends have been hurt by it, as a few of my friends have.

At least I know I'm being cruel and have a reason for relating that way. My words are passionate more than spiteful. I'm upset that this culture-bound therapy has taken in so many bright people. And I'm upset about the damage I've seen it do to people who don't succeed at accommodating to this therapy, as well as the ones who do. It makes them feel inadequate, unhelpable, and deserving of abandonment.

If, like me, you want to find examples of the flaws of CBT to serve as as contrasts to the facets of a more humane therapy, this book is well worth its price.

John McFadden
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