Gay Men and Childhood Sexual Trauma: Integrating the Shattered Self
Cassese, J. (Editor). Haworth Press, Inc., Binghamton, NY. 2000.
The first book of its kind, Gay Men and Childhood Sexual Trauma: Integrating the Shattered Self addresses the specific therapeutic needs of gay men in recovery. All too often, gay men hide their childhood memories of being sexually victimized, because of fear, shame, and the stigma of stereotypes which equate homosexuality with child abuse. Some gay men may view these histories as “rites of passage” and dismiss other perspectives as betrayals of their community or inadvertant support for the anti-gay agenda of the religious right. Certain therapists and so-called support groups ridicule them as hysterics with false memories. Groups like the North American Man-Boy Love Association or the Rene Guyon Society dismiss the source of their anguish as wishful thinking or a healthy, consensual intergenerational romance. Finally here is a book that addresses the unique emotional and psychological needs of gay male survivors of sexual abuse.
Gay Men and Childhood Sexual Trauma offers new hope by separating the crime of pedophilia from the consensual intimacy of an adult male same-sex relationship. It provides specific guidance for therapists working with gay men either in individual or group therapy settings, and offers practical treatment suggestions as well as moving insights into the painful conflicts gay men may have in accepting their own sexuality and revealing their status as child survivor of an adult sexual predator.
Gay Men and Childhood Sexual Trauma discusses practical ways to help the survivor heal, including:
adopting eye movement desensitization and reprocessing techniques to treat traumatized gay men
helping gay men to break the old arousal patterns associated with their abusers
handling survivors’formidable issues of trust, addictions, depression, and low self-esteem
leading survivor groups of mixed sexual orientation
discerning the special meaning of HIV to traumatized gay men
respecting cross-cultural differences in treating the gay male sexual trauma survivor
finding new directions for research
This powerful volume offers sufficient technical detail to be useful for the therapist working with gay men, yet it is written with enough clarity and compassion to be used as bibliotherapy for men just coming out as gay, as survivor, or as both. Gay Men and Childhood Sexual Trauma is an essential resource for mental health professionals, as well as for gay men who have themselves survived sexual abuse or who love someone who did.
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