Theory & Psychology

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Miltenburg, R.
Right arrow Articles by Singer, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Theory & Psychology, Vol. 7, No. 5, 605-628 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/0959354397075002

The (Ab)use of Reliving Childhood Traumata

Ruth Miltenburg

Bunnik, the Netherlands

Elly Singer

University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, E.SINGER{at}FSW.RUU.NL

Most treatments of adult survivors of child abuse are based on the assumption that without memory, without an understanding or felt experience that the abuse is at the heart of the client's difficulties, the survivor is lost. This paper questions this assumption. The alleged therapeutic value of reliving is based on the denial of unbearable suffering, and on an abstract idea of mental health which has its roots in psychoanalytic theories for the treatment of non-abused clients. Reliving abusive experiences can lead to a repetition of the abuse and an exacerbation of the client's problems. Unbearable experiences demand `abnormal' defence or coping strategies, which are not necessarily undesirable or pathological.

Key Words: child abuse • coping • healing • reliving • therapy


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 TraumatologyHome page
E. G. Lindner
Humiliation-Trauma That Has Been Overlooked: An Analysis Based on Fieldwork in Germany, Rwanda/Burundi, and Somalia
Traumatology, March 1, 2001; 7(1): 43 - 68.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Theory PsychologyHome page
R. Miltenburg and E. Singer
A Concept Becomes a Passion: Moral Commitments and the Affective Development of the Survivors of Child Abuse
Theory Psychology, August 1, 2000; 10(4): 503 - 526.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Theory PsychologyHome page
H. J. Stam
Ten Years after, Decade to Come: The Contributions of Theory to Psychology
Theory Psychology, February 1, 2000; 10(1): 5 - 21.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Theory PsychologyHome page
C. MacMartin
Disclosure as Discourse: Theorizing Children's Reports of Sexual Abuse
Theory Psychology, August 1, 1999; 9(4): 503 - 532.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Theory PsychologyHome page
O. van der Hart and K. Steele
Relieving or Reliving Childhood Trauma? A Commentary on Miltenburg and Singer (1997)
Theory Psychology, August 1, 1999; 9(4): 533 - 540.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Theory PsychologyHome page
R. Miltenburg and E. Singer
A Dissociative Identity Disorder is a Developmental Accomplishment: Reply to Van der Hart and Steele
Theory Psychology, August 1, 1999; 9(4): 541 - 549.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Feminism PsychologyHome page
R. Miltenburg and E. Singer
Rethinking Moral Issues in Therapies of the Survivors of Child Abuse and Neglect
Feminism Psychology, August 1, 1998; 8(3): 387 - 394.