Therapists’ experiences of working with male clients with a history of childhood sexual abuse - implications for counselling psychology practice:

: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

Background:  Despite its high prevalence and long-lasting effects, male childhood sexual abuse (CSA) remains under-recognised which is reflected in the shortage of relevant literature. The existing literature suggests that mental health practitioners often feel undertrained, lacking confidence and competence working with male CSA survivors, and their attitudes frequently reflect societal preconceptions of masculinity and male CSA. The literature on CSA suggests that these factors, as well as engaging with clients’ traumatic experiences can increase the risk of vicarious trauma in practitioners and may expose their clients to psychological harm. Despite the emotionally demanding nature of this work surprisingly little attention has been paid to the practitioners’ experiences. This study aims to explore therapists’ experiences of working with male CSA survivors to contribute to a greater understanding of therapists’ needs.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six therapists. The interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: Four themes were identified: “Impact of Societal Attitudes Towards Male CSA on the Therapists’ Work”, “The Challenging Nature of Male CSA Work”, “Taking Care of Self” and “Caring About the Clients”. The results indicated impact of societal perceptions towards male CSA on the therapists’ work. The therapists experienced the work with male CSA survivors more challenging than with other clients which resulted in increased need to take care of themselves. The therapists also felt protective of their clients and wanted to provide them with a safe space. 3 

Conclusion and implications: The work with male CSA survivors presents with specific challenges which affect the therapists’ personal and professional lives. It is proposed that the research contributes to awareness of the complex nature of male CSA work. It provides support for specialist male CSA training and supervision, and it highlights the need for policy change to increase awareness of male CSA.

Date of Award	2 Oct 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Supervisor	Edith Steffen (Director of Studies) & Anastasios Gaitanidis (Co-Supervisor)