Rescue Fantasies in Child Therapy: Countertransference/Transference Enactments

Malawista, Kerry L.

doi:10.1023/b:casw.0000035222.16367.32

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

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“…The problematic nature of the presence of RF in therapeutic situations with children has been the subject of a separate discussion (Malawista, 2004). These fantasies develop when the therapist attempts to rescue the child who perceived the parent as an "early criminal" (Anastasopoulos & Tasiantis, 1997).…”

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confidence: 99%

Rescue fantasies in the personal and professional relational narratives of psychotherapists

Vaknin

Wiseman

2020

Couns and Psychother Res

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This study explores rescue fantasies in the experiences of therapists in their relationship with their clients and in their personal relationships. Twenty female therapists participated in a reading procedure aimed to prompt themes of rescue followed by a relationships anecdotes paradigm (RAP) interview in which they recounted relational narratives with their parents, their own children and their clients. Adapting the Core Conflictual Relationships Themes (CCRT) method, our analysis of rescue wishes in the relational narratives leads to the identification of two major types of therapists' propensities towards rescue awareness: rescuer and dialectic. These types are characterised by different dynamics of ongoing interpersonal conflicts involved in the strength and nature of rescue fantasies. The findings reveal the dominance of rescue themes in therapists' interpersonal and professional experiences. Our illustration of the rescue types as revealed by the narratives highlights the significance of therapists' awareness of their own rescue dynamics and its implications for training and supervision.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rescue fantasies in the personal and professional relational narratives of psychotherapists

Vaknin

Wiseman

2020

Couns and Psychother Res

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Child Sexual Abuse Workers’ Emotional Experiences of Working Therapeutically in the Western Cape, South Africa

Capri

Kruger

Tomlinson

2012

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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South African child sexual abuse workers active in low-income communities bear witness to stories of sexual and physical abuse, neglect, pervasive deprivation, and violence. North American, British, and European workers' emotional experiences have been captured in the literature, and a gap remains to be filled by those of their South African colleagues. This research aims to focus on the emotional experiences of social workers who engage therapeutically with sexually abused children in the Helderberg basin of the Western Cape, and resonate in some way with readers working in situations of poverty and trauma in other parts of the world. This study employed an explorative inductive research method, and followed a critical realist and contextual constructionist approach. Multiple-case study data collection took place by means of semi-structured interviews with social workers who engage therapeutically with sexually abused children. Data were examined by means of thematic analysis, and psychoanalytic theory was employed to analyse defences that surfaced during interviews. There were similarities in emotional experiences between South African participants and their abovementioned counterparts. The research also identified salient features of working with child sexual abuse in South Africa. The emotional experiences of doing such work, coupled with participants' ways of managing sexually abused children's material, gave rise to possible vicarious traumatisation symptoms and allowed for a psychoanalytic understanding to be put forward. The research also reports on useful measures that might enable individuals to continue interventions. To enable ongoing effective therapeutic engagement, social workers should have access to opportunities for acknowledging countertransferences and processing dynamic material defended against. The research contributes to knowledge of working in South Africa by exploring the emotional experiences of those who help sexually abused children daily, and by investigating the psychological impact prolonged therapeutic engagement has on workers active in Western Cape low-income communities.

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Expression and Management of Neglected and Maltreated Children’s Sexuality in Symbolic and Traumatic Play: Theoretical and Clinical Reflections

Terradas¹,

Rioux

Asselin

2023

Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy

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Rescue Fantasies in Child Therapy: Countertransference/Transference Enactments

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

Rescue fantasies in the personal and professional relational narratives of psychotherapists

Rescue fantasies in the personal and professional relational narratives of psychotherapists

Child Sexual Abuse Workers’ Emotional Experiences of Working Therapeutically in the Western Cape, South Africa

Expression and Management of Neglected and Maltreated Children’s Sexuality in Symbolic and Traumatic Play: Theoretical and Clinical Reflections

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