The delivery of a survivors’ group for learning disabled women with significant learning disabilities who have been sexually abused

Abstract

Accessible summary• People with learning disabilities are more likely to experience sexual things happening to them when they do not want them to. This is called sexual abuse. • A group was started to help women who have been sexually abused. The group met once a week and lasted for 20 weeks. • Women who were interested in attending this group were given information about it and asked on three separate occasions if they wanted to attend. • Seven women with learning disabilities took part in the group and their carers helped them travel to the group and then went into a separate carers group upstairs. After the groups had finished the carers helped the women get home again. • Some of the women found it very difficult to talk about the sexual abuse that had happened to them. At first they felt very upset and two women hurt themselves. Everybody felt angry about what had happened and it was good to hear they were not alone. • After several months the group helped the women feel less scared and depressed and helped the women's carers understand them better. • This research matters because it helped the women move on with their lives and will help others who want to start a survivors' of sexual abuse group.

Adult protection and effective action in tackling violence and hostility against disabled people: some tensions and challenges

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Silk purses and sows' ears: the social and clinical exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities

“…The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have seen a late flowering of interest in psychotherapy with people with intellectual disabilities (Alvarez, 1992;Andrew, 2003;Beail, 1998;Corbett, 1996;Corbett, Cottis, & Morris 1996;Cottis, 2009;De Groef & Heinmann, 1999;Frankish, 2009;Kahr, 2000;Linington, 2002;McGinnity & Banks, 2004;Peckham, Corbett, Howlett, McKee, & Pattison 2007;Sinason, 1992;Willner, 2005), with the establishment of clinics such as Respond, in London, and the birth of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)-recognised Institute of Psychotherapy and Disability providing a national umbrella for clinicians working in the field.…”

Comorbid Conditions in Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

“…However, they may lack the range of adaptive psychological coping strategies and supports to cope with such life events (Bicknell1983, Taylor et al 2008). People with ID are also at greater risk than their non-disabled counterparts of experiences of abuse and trauma (Peckham et al 2007, Robinson 2013) and such experiences are likely to be implicative in the development of a range of psychological and psychiatric disorders, including contributing to the development of disability or secondary handicap (Sinason 1992, Frankish 2013. While there is little evidence to show changes in the prevalence of psychological and psychiatric disorders at particular points over the life course, the clinical view is that, just as for people without ID, people with ID are particularly at risk for the development of difficulties at points of transition or crisis, such as changing school, moving from school to college, moving from living within a family unit to living in a more independent setting, changing jobs and being bereaved.…”

“…They highlight some of the complex issues in running a group for people with ID, some of which are similar to groups for people without ID (for example participants not liking each other, age difference between group members) and some of which were specific to this participant group (for example the wide range of cognitive ability of the participants). Peckham et al (2007) ran a group for women with ID who had experienced sexual abuse. The group lasted for 20 sessions and involved three stages, establishing relationships and the therapeutic alliance, psychoeducation and helping reprocess the trauma.…”