Shocking revelation! There are women survivors of sexual violence training as person-centred psychotherapists

Abstract

This article introduces a new Associate Editor and her interest in researching the experiences of women survivors of sexual violence in UK person-centred psychotherapy training. KEYWORDSperson-centred psychotherapy training, qualitative research, sexual violence, survivors I am a sociologist, an academic, a feminist, a psychotherapist-in-training -and a survivor of sexual violence. This is the first time I have "outed" myself in a public forum as a survivor of sexual violence. I have chosen my appointment as an Associate Editor of Psychotherapy and Politics International as a moment for self-disclosure as I believe that in being political we also need, where we can, to be personal, and this feels like the right time for me. | SEXUAL VIOLENCESexual violence is a global epidemic which currently shames victims/survivors rather than perpetrators, and this includes psychotherapists, who, as Adams (2013) says, can feel shame about "personal difficulties" (p. 8). A search for academic research exploring "survivors and psychotherapy training" is largely futile: Wilson and Jones (2010) present the "case" of a graduate counselling student/rape survivor, "Mary", who experiences reasonable responses, i.e., "a lack of interest in … sexual intercourse and hobbies [and] anger and irritability" (p. 445). Wilson and Jones go on, somewhat smugly and simplistically to recommend that: "therapists explore and work through their own past traumas early in their careers" (p. 454). Thereafter, it appears that the library catalogue assumes the researcher means "psychotherapists working with survivors". Whilst Adams' (2013) work humanises psychotherapists, none of her interviewees is a survivor; Etherington (2004) reports that, when she revealed her own experiences of abuse, she met with suggestions of "over-exposure" (p. 35). It is perhaps not surprising that many psychotherapists and psychotherapists-in-training keep quiet about their own lived experiences of violence, abuse, and trauma.In the light of this, I am interested in conducting research into the experience of psychotherapists-in-training who are survivors of violence, abuse and trauma. This work is "practice-based", that is: "the research question is triggered by personal experience and a 'need to know' … [and] a goal is to produce knowledge that makes a positive difference to practice" (Bager-Charleson, 2014, p. 2). This resonates with me. I recently found a photograph taken by the man

Unbroken: One woman's journey to rebuild a life shattered by violence. A true story of survival and hope. Madeleine Black. London, UK: John Blake, 2017. 276 pp.

“…As a psychotherapist and psychotherapist‐in‐training respectively who are rape survivors (one of us “came out” in writing in this journal [Lee, ] and has also written here about processes of “coming out” [Lee, ]), we recognise that it is rare and important for psychotherapists to self‐identify and self‐disclose as Black has done; and we decided to share our thoughts.

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