Sexual abuse in the lives of women diagnosed with serious mental illness

Maxine Harris, Christine L. Landis

Taylor & Francis US, 1997 - Mentally ill women - 416 pages

Although a substantial amount of media and professional attention has been devoted to the incidence of sexual abuse in the population at large, the plight of those who have suffered abuse and are seriously mentally ill has largely been ignored. Divided into various parts, this important and distinctive work offers chapters on theory and assessment of the abused women, including the services that are available and recommendations for improvement; treatment, including impatient treatment and cognitive-behavioral approaches; and policy and research, which deals with the prevalence and impact of physical and emotional abuse on severely mentally ill woman. There is also a section devoted to case studies that are both tragic and devastating. The material in this work is broad enough that its audience will extend beyond clinicians to policymakers and researchers, as well as the interested lay-reader.

Contents

• with Severe Mental Illness Who Are also the Survivors: 3
• The Interface of Homelessness Addicrions: 21
• Assessment of Trauma in Women Psychiatric Patients: 39
• A CognitiveBehavioral Approach: 67
• A Social Skills Approach to Trauma Recovery: 91
• Inpatient Treatment of Psychiatric Women Patients: 109
• On Being Invisible in the Mental Health System: 161
• As Told to: 181
• The House on Phillips Avenue: 217
• A Question oflllness Injustice or Both?: 235
• New Directions for Treatment Research on Sequelae: 259
• Prevalence and Impact of Sexual and Physical Abuse: 277
• Care of Clinicians Doing Trauma Work: 303
• Sexual Trauma and African American Women: 321
• Spirituality in Trauma Recovery for People with: 337
• Trauma and Trauma Recovery for Dually Diagnosed: 357
• Index: 373

About the author

A clinical psychologist and associate at Dartmouth College's Psychiatric Research Center, Maxine Harris is best-known for her groundbreaking book The Loss That is Forever: The Lifelong Impact of the Early Death of a Mother or Father. Based on interviews with scores of people, and her own experience as a clinical psychologist, Harris provides readers with a basis for understanding the impact the early loss of a parent has on adult development. Some of Harris's other works include Women in the Asylum, a collection of first-person accounts by women who were in insane asylums; Sexual Abuse in the Lives of Women Diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness, which includes sections on assessment, treatment and policy; and Trauma Recovery and Empowerment, a clinical guide for working with women in groups. Besides writing books, Harris was also on the editorial board of the journal Violence Against Women. Published monthly by SAGE Publications, the journal is available on the Internet as well as through the mail. As co-director for Community Connections Mental Health Agency in Washington, D.C., Harris worked with homeless clients.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sexual abuse in the lives of women diagnosed with serious mental illness; Volume 2 of New directions in therapeutic intervention, ISSN 1024-5243
• Editors: Maxine Harris, Christine L. Landis
• Contributor: Maxine Harris
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis US, 1997
• ISBN: 9057025051, 9789057025051
• Length: 416 pages