Sexual Abuse in Childhood and its Effects on Adult Life

Abstract

It is not only families that break boundaries of trust in relation to sexually abusive behaviour, but also counsellors and therapists. Aspects of professional behaviour relating to safety between client and professional still need to be addressed before any of us attend to abusive behaviour in a man or woman’s personal life. While it may be hard for anyone practising under a therapeutic title to recognise that their own practice may have abusive elements, these can range from abuse through oversight and unintentional overfamiliarity, to the open infringement of physical and psychological boundaries that is taboo within the ethical code of psychotherapists.