Culturally mediated learning and the development of self-regulation by survivors of child abuse: A Vygotskian approach to the support of survivors ofchild abuse

In his studies of handicapped and 'difficult' children, Vygotsky applied on e of his basic assumptions in the domain of affective development: that hum an individuals try to master themselves from the 'outside' through the deve lopment of higher mental functions. His theoretical accounts provide both a conceptualization of the unique methods employed by abused children to com pensate and a conceptual framework to study the way new psychological tools can assist the further development of abused children's methods of compens ation, In this respect, a Vygotskian therapeutic approach, together with cu rrent constructivist theories of the development of abused children, provid es an alternative to psychodynamic and cognitive therapies that focus on th e cause of 'original' traumatic experiences and the (cathartic) re-living o f affective reactions to them. Clinical examples are discussed to illustrat e this Vygotskian therapeutic approach.