Incorporating Trauma-Informed Practices into Psychotherapeutic Supports for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.
Authors
McCauley, Eamonn
Issue Date
2026.13.01
Degree
Counselling and Psychotherapy - 10788/2210
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Open Access
Abstract
There appears to be increasing incorporation of Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) into psychotherapeutic supports for adult survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in Ireland. Yet there are also reports of confusion about what TIP means, uncertainty about its practical implications, and considerable variability in the efficacy with which it is implemented. This has led to calls for increased provision of specialist sexual violence services that place trauma at their heart, addressing survivors’ basic safety concerns and minimising the risk of re-traumatisation. This desk-based research study aims to inform and rekindle the debate around provision of TIP-informed services for adult survivors of CSA in Ireland. It synthesises literature that offers a rationale for TIP, and provides clients, psychotherapists, policy makers, and others with a sense of what effective incorporation looks like in the psychotherapeutic encounter. Findings suggest that, not only does TIP profoundly improve the quality and character of psychotherapy for CSA survivors, it is indispensable to this. Practical suggestions are made around how TIP can be used to create safer relational, psychological, and physical psychotherapeutic spaces.