REMEMBERING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE - A NATIONAL SURVEY OF PSYCHOLOGISTS CLINICAL PRACTICES, BELIEFS, AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

A national survey of 1,000 psychologists, to which 223 responded, asse ssed professionals' clinical practices and beliefs about the treatment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), personal CSA hist ory, and the phenomenon of clients remembering CSA in therapy. Results indicated that over 25% of therapists reported using guided imagery, dream interpretation, bibliotherapy regarding sexual abuse, referral t o sexual abuse survivors' group, and free association of childhood mem ories as memory retrieval techniques with clients who had no specific memory of CSA. However, the majority of therapists reported that they had not seen any cases of adult clients entering therapy with no memor y of CSA and subsequently recalling abuse in the course of therapy. A personal history of CSA was not associated with most clinical practice s related to treating sexual abuse survivors. The implications for tra ining and establishing scientific standards of psychological practice are discussed.