MY PhD THESIS

Piki, E. (2019). A Qualitative Analysis of Athenian Psychoanalytic Therapists’ Approach to Working with Adults’ Child Sexual Abuse Memory. [PhD thesis] Goldsmith’s University of London.

Abstract

The historical background regarding proposed psychotherapeutic treatment of adults’ child sexual abuse memory is bristling with obscurities. More recent relevant history involved the recovered-false memory debate, which also addressed but failed to answer certain questions regarding the handling of child sexual abuse memories. The present thesis attempts to explore literature gaps and controversial situations met by professionals working with adults who experience child sexual abuse memories. For this purpose 31 Athenian psychoanalytic therapists were interviewed, and the emerging data were analysed qualitatively using Content Analysis. Most of the key findings, regarding child sexual abuse memories in psychoanalysis, contradicted past research findings, emphasised difficulties and revealed that psychoanalytic therapy can be effective. The present study produced new ideas about unexplored areas in the psychoanalytic work with CSAM (e.g. the conditions under which the fantasy-realily distinction is the therapists’ responsibility) and provided guidelines for various issues (such as how to facilitate the distinction between fantasy and reality in cases involving CSAM). Implications for clinical work with adults who suffer from child sexual abuse memories are examined and suggestions for future research are given.