The point of trauma-focused therapy is not to make people remember all the disturbing things that ever happened to them. People do not need to remember every detail in order to heal. Rather, the goal of psychotherapy is to help people gain authority over their trauma-related memories and feelings so that they can get on with their lives. To do this, people often have to talk in detail about their past experiences.
Through talking, they are able to acknowledge the trauma—remember it, feel it, think about it, share it and put it in perspective. At the same time, to prevent the past from continuing to influence the present negatively, it is vital to focus on the present, since the goal of treatment is to help individuals live healthier, more functional lives in the here and now.
Just as it is harmful for people to believe that something horrible happened to them when nothing did, it is equally harmful for people to believe that nothing happened when something bad did occur. Ultimately, the individual involved—not the therapist—must reach a conclusion about what happened in the past. Good therapy shouldn't create or reinforce false beliefs, whether the beliefs are of having been abused or of not having been abused.
Competent therapists realize their job is not to convince someone about a certain set of beliefs, but to let reality unfold for each person according to the individual's own experience, interpretation and understanding. Helpful psychotherapy provides a neutral, supportive environment for understanding oneself and one's past. Every profession has specific standards of conduct for its practitioners.
Based on the current state of knowledge, it is safe to say that some practices are risky. First, a therapist should not automatically assume that certain symptoms mean a person has been abused. Since the same symptoms can often point to a variety of causes, symptoms alone can't provide a proper indication of childhood trauma.
Encouraging people to imagine they were traumatized when they have no memory of a traumatic event may promote inaccurate memories. Date October 12, When questioned closely by psychologists from Harvard University about their feelings, victims of childhood sexual abuse revealed some surprising impressions. First, the abuse apparently was not seen as traumatic, terrifying, life threatening, or violent at the time.
Some psychologists believe that forgetting childhood sexual abuse is a deep-seated unconscious blocking out of the event, an involuntary mechanism that automatically keeps painful memories out of consciousness.
As trauma survivors often report time and space disorientation as well as memory deficit, an attempt was made to further understand these functions in female adults CSA survivors. More specifically, we questioned how they recalled their past; how their past experience interacted with their experience of the present; and how the past abuse affected the way that they viewed the future.
In relation to time perception and memory deficit, three main themes emerged: Adrift in time and space; disintegration of body, mind and identity; and chaos, exhaustion, and confusion. The trauma of child sexual abuse CSA is a phenomenon which has been studied extensively, particularly in relation to risk factors and long-term physical and emotional consequences.
Of the several forms of abuse e. Finkelhor and Browne attempted, three decades ago, to conceptualize CSA based on their clinical experience at that time.
They described four traumagenic dynamics — traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness and stigmatization — which occur together, as part of a process and form the basis of the trauma unique to CSA. Time perception is one of the central differences between the two conceptual models, acknowledging the importance of time in providing structure to the human experience.
The objective of the current study was to inquire whether the conceptualization of the distorted time perception caused by CSA can be validated empirically. Based on a phenomenological analysis of life story interviews with 50 adult female sexual abuse survivors, the study examined how female survivors of sexual abuse perceive time and recount their life experiences.
This specific issue was chosen based on the importance of time perception and future orientation in endorsing quality of life. Although the definition of CSA varies widely across studies Senn et al.
CSA is a traumatic life experience that the child is developmentally unequipped to comprehend or process Cook et al. CSA is known to have medical, emotional and psychiatric consequences Patensco, ; Hetzel-Riggin et al.
Severity level of symptomatology is contingent upon personal and circumstantial variables such as the identity of the perpetrator and relation to the child familial, or not , the form of the sexual abuse harassment, exposure to pornography, with or without penetration, etc. Time perception refers to the subjective manner in which a person experiences the passage of time or the perceived duration of events, which can vary significantly between individuals and circumstances Carstensen, While physical time is considered to be objective, psychological time is subjective and pliable with current understanding that the experience of time includes distortions and illusions which influence our perception Eagleman, Additionally, our memory process are complex and prone to alterations caused by interior and exterior stimuli such as mood, mental state, cognitive abilities and trauma Barry et al.
This appears to be a later evolutionary ability, which might explain the fragility of this mechanism, as it can be interrupted relatively easily. Zimbardo and Boyd describe people as time travelers, by drawing on past memories, experiencing the present, and looking forward to the future — we obtain structure and cohesion that give meaning to the human experience. In his ground-breaking research dedicated to time perception, Zimbardo concluded that our approach to time reflects upon our decisions, judgments and behaviors — major and minor Zimbardo et al.
Time perception is considered a complex trait at the base of the human experience Meck, — we remember and reflect upon our past, experience our present and plan and anticipate our future. Despite the importance of time as defining our experiences, the nature of time perception and the specific mechanism or mechanisms responsible for it remain a mystery Le Poidevin, While the perception of time has yet to be linked to a specific sensory system, psychologists and neuroscientists assume that humans have a system or several inter-linked sensory systems that regulate the mechanism of time perception and its effects on individual experience Droit-Volet and Meck, Time as a constant is a feature which provides security as well as meaning to human experience; hence, human fascination and obsession with measuring time and acknowledging it through recurrent ceremonies.
Studies have shown that the manner in which time perception is incorporated in the individual experience affects their levels of emotional well-being Vasile, , satisfaction with life Carstensen, and predicts, to some extent, professional success, general health and overall happiness e. Memory, while intriguing mankind for at least 2, years has been a scientific field only in the past century. Memory is intrinsically linked to time perception, an understanding that came about in recent decades with the recognition that there is a link between fields of psychology that exist on a continuum with overlapping areas.
This notion is made more intricate when trauma is involved Caruth, Research in the past two decades has shown that a history of trauma increases the likelihood of autobiographical memory deficits, effecting the manner in which individuals recall their life experiences Droit-Volet, ; Ono et al.
Trauma experienced during childhood, while memory systems are developing, is believed to negatively alter the development of basic and autobiographic memory skills Otgaar et al. Trauma is considered a factor that may also alter time perception.
The effect of trauma on time perception has been studied extensively Bonaparte, ; Terr, , ; Sar and Ozturk, without the process at the base of time misperception being clarified in full. Initially, time is perceived in an altered manner during the traumatic event with survivors describing time as slowing down or speeding up , yet this alteration is evident in the aftermath, with survivors relating the traumatic event, as well as subsequent experiences, in a haphazard, confused manner Terr, CSA survivors and other trauma survivors often re-experience the trauma of abuse mentally as well as physically when encountering triggers associated with the past traumatic events, a cycle that leads to re-traumatization Carlson and Ruzek, A victim of CSA is encapsulated in the abuse, anticipating the abuse before it occurs, living through the abusive acts when they occur, and anxiously expecting the abuse to reoccur time after time.
Being abused becomes the predominant life experience, causing everyday life to fade into the background, with the memory deficit and loss of time perception becoming routine events. Previous research e. It is therefore understandable that the younger the victim of sexual abuse is, the more severe the time-dependent outcomes are Briere and Elliott, Droit-Volet and Gil studied the time-emotion paradox, which deals with the effect of emotion on the presumably accurate inner-clock humans have been proven to possess.
Our time perception is ultimately influenced by our emotions that are prone to fluctuations caused by inner and outer, positive and negative stimuli. Conditioning involves forming an association between two stimuli resulting in a learned response. Thus, when the sexual abuse becomes routine, the child becomes accustomed to familiar signs leading to abuse, and the pairing of the signs with the abuse triggers reactions based upon prior abusive experiences. When this event becomes habitual, the child learns to identify the signs of the impending occurrence, to recognize the peak of the abusive event, and the signals indicating that the specific traumatic occurrence will soon come to an end.
When the perpetrator leaves the scene, physical relief is experienced — a sensation of relaxation due to an experiential distancing from the source of stress the perpetrator. However, this relaxation does not last long. Thus, the child is in a never-ending cycle of dreading the inevitable encounter with the abuser, experiencing the abuse, relief when it temporally ends, and dreading the next abusive encounter.
This cycle takes a toll on the physical and mental well-being of the child Olivera-Figueroa et al. Craig researched brain functions, providing an explanation for the subjective manner in which time is perceived, with an emphasis on the roles of positive experiences which cause time to seemingly contract, or speed up , versus negative experiences which cause time to seemingly dilate, or slow down.
The trauma of CSA creates a psychological construct of being entrapped in time, trapped in the past event which feels like the present. This ultimately leads to disorientation and creates a misperception of time Drake et al. The study followed a qualitative research approach, involving the use of the life history interview as the primary method Bertaux, This approach puts an emphasis on the communicative elements of storytelling, allowing the participants to choose and accentuate the life experiences at their discretion.
It involves a thematic examination of the perceptions and experiences of adult CSA survivors. In this manner, researchers may present a series of subjective experiences as being part of a larger interconnected structure that can be the foundation of a qualitative-based theoretical model Strauss and Corbin, Thematic results were analyzed twice — initially an open analysis was conducted without taking time perception into consideration, in order to discover whether it would naturally and spontaneously emerge.
Narratives were analyzed and successively categorized into themes which provided a basis for the findings. Open-ended life story interviews of 50 participants were randomly selected from life story interviews collected by LW since as part of a broader research. Interviewees represent all familial statuses, with a slight preponderance of married women.
Of the women participating in this study, 22 are survivors of interfamilial sexual abuse by fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, and brothers , 25 are survivors of sexual abuse by an acquaintance friends, teachers, sports instructors, family friends and the remaining three were sexually abused by strangers.
Data collection of life-story interviews was carried out by experienced, supervised interviewers throughout —, with all participants giving written informed consent to being interviewed and to future use of the data in research. Ethical issues were addressed with an emphasis on the issues of participant confidentiality and dignity.
Participants were given full control over the data collated from them and were offered a referral to resources should their participation cause them duress. Individuals who were diagnosed with psychiatric illness were excluded from the study. A qualitative approach to data analysis was used Creswell, : The life history interview Bertaux, , which allows participants to impart their subjective life experience in their words, emphasizing or omitting at their own will Berntsen et al.
Principles of narrative analysis Tuval-Mashiach and Spector-Marsel, were used in order to collect and analyze traumatic events and themes. The life history interview has been used previously in researching the experiences of CSA survivors and found to be appropriate, as the interviewer refrains from sanitizing and distancing the traumatic experience, thus portraying it in an authentic manner Gonzalez-Lopez, This analysis aims to acknowledge the basic components of experience, gather them into relevant, meaningful sequences, and then encode and conceptualize the sequences into unique theoretical categories.
The next stage of TCA consists of combining a number of theoretical categories into general comprehensive themes. The qualitative life story approach, chosen for this study, has been validated and found reliable in previous studies Baerger and McAdams, ; Lincoln, ; Locke and Lloyd-Sherlock, Trustworthiness of the study was attained by adhering to measures of reliability.
In qualitative methodology this refers to the stability of the results produced, i. Theoretical categories detected in the data were condensed into general, comprehensive themes, with three time-related themes emerging: Adrift in time and space; disintegration of body, mind and identity; chaos, exhaustion, and confusion.
Child sexual abuse survivors frequently described their lives as characterized by a state of limbo — adrift in space and time without an anchor, devoid of positive memories of the past, prior to the abuse, as the abuse had obliterated their previous identity.
The interviews made reference to feeling a lack of control over time and confusion at the passing of time. One of the most poignant references to the manner in which being sexually abused impacted time perception was made by Mia, who had been molested by her father from infancy her earliest memories include being abused until age When reflecting upon her childhood, Mia summarized her experience as being a prisoner trapped in time:.
I was trapped in the past and the present without a future. These feelings are predominant even years after the physical abuse has stopped. Another participant, Violet, had been molested at approximately age 11, by her swimming instructor, who also had been a close friend of her parents. Violet described the years after being abused as being a bystander in her own life:. While some survivors spoke about time in its general sense, Nancy, who was raped by a friend at age 14, described the time distortion she experienced during and immediately following the rape.
But no one came. This differs from dissociation in its encompassing aspect — memories from long before and after the abuse were demolished, leaving a frustrating blank.
The recurring experiences voiced by survivors of memory deficits took a variety of forms. While there were survivors who described being trapped in the past, and others described living parallel lives, Sarah, who had been abused by her father from age six until age 14, describes a lack of connection to her past, an absence of childhood memories:. I have lots of flashbacks and lots of black lines.
While many people regardless of trauma struggle to recall childhood memories, Sarah experienced the memory lapses in a negative manner — as time lost, black voids in her life which she elusively and unsuccessfully tried to fill.
Memories matter because they form a link to the past, acting as an anchor to the present and the future Terr, An absence of memories, an elimination of our past experiences, indicates a rupture from our base, without which we exist in a state of limbo.
Both women mentioned negative flashes of memories as opposed to unimpaired memories of experiences, without mentioning positive childhood experiences. Even while the abuse went on, Victoria recalls being ambivalent in relating to it, sometimes believing that she was imagining it:. I always felt a sort of doubt.
Did it happen? I used to jump out of the bed and try and check what was going on behind my back. When I thought that my father was rubbing his penis behind me, I was sure that I was hallucinating, that I was insane. In a world where trauma is rife, right and wrong are reversed. Basic experiences that attach to time and space are muddled, and the result is a confusing void Sar and Ozturk, Caroline revealed the story of her abuse by an artist in a gallery that she had visited with her parents.
This occurred when Caroline was 10 years old and subsequently activated a loss of memory spanning the years before and after the rape:. I hardly remember anything from my childhood, most of my memories are things that I was told.
It was not only her childhood memories that were affected, but her ability to perceive time and attach events to a timeline. Caroline was candid about the confusion she lives in regarding her perception of time and experiences:. Alice, who had been raped at age 14 and subsequently became addicted to drugs and adapted promiscuous behavior, which led to two abortions before she turned 16, referred to an obliteration of childhood memories from the period before her rape:.
I have no special or good memories from my childhood. I only have a few images from my childhood. Once again, images or flashes replace constant, stable memories. Sexual abuse functions as a knife, disconnecting the past from the present and the future.
At a later point, Alice chose to refer to her lack of memory once again:. This memory deficit is especially interesting because Alice chose to describe her life as normal before being raped at age The rape is where everything began. That is where I started deteriorating. My insanity began before the drugs. I dropped out of school straight after the rape. I started working, 12 hours a day, after work I partied and drank, then back to work.
Being sexually abused influenced not only the present, at the time of the abuse, but also the future and, surprisingly, even the past, before the abuse began with a memory deficit a common thread among survivors. Nancy, mentioned earlier, who had been raped by a friend when she was 14 years old, began her interview by saying:. Survivors related to a feeling of missing out on key life experiences and periods following the abuse.
The feeling described is more subtle than the memory deficit previously mentioned, varying from a feeling of living on the sidelines to an understanding of time passing without being able to account for their experiences during this passage of time.
The periods of confusion deny survivors an opportunity to create a cohesive, continuous life story built layer upon layer in an organized manner.
Tammy, who had been abused by her father during puberty, after having been orphaned by her mother, talked about her experiences as an adult that were affected by the abuse. When describing living overseas with her husband and children for two years, Tammy declared:. I remember traveling around Hong Kong, America, seeing amazing sights, but not really. There is no absorption.
The gulf between the body and the mind is enormous. The inability to account for their lives leaves survivors in a state of limbo with central parts of their selves a mystery. This may cause anxiety induced by the fact that survivors fear being abused before the abuse they remember, perhaps by additional abusers. This was articulated by Marsha, who was abused by numerous men: initially, by a neighbor, when she was only four years old, and later on, by her childhood boyfriend and his friend, from age 12 to At age 20, she was raped by a relative.
Like Tammy, Marsha found it difficult to describe specific life experiences, aware of the fact that she does not have a cohesive recollection of the events:. Similar to other survivors who were interviewed, Marsha alluded to memories appearing as flashes, lacking cohesion or organization. Stella, who had been molested by her uncle at age 12, suffered from bulimia immediately following the trauma eating disorders are common following CSA.
Stella related a lack of connection in relation to suffering from bulimia:. I have a sort of blackout. It went on for a long time.
As stated, confused recollection was commonplace among the survivors interviewed. Most were aware of the fact, often apologizing for their malfunctioning memory, but at times they did not relate the confusion to being sexually abused. Others associated confusion to the abuse, but despite dealing with the issue on a daily basis did not seem to be aware that treatment addressing the issue directly could improve their quality of life. Several survivors were ambivalent about the memory lapses and confusion.
On the one hand, they understood that the memory deficit and confusion served to protect them, but on the other hand, they felt anxious and were curious about experiences that they had undergone but could not recollect. Michelle, who had been raped by two men, coherently explained this:. The experience cannot be erased or forgotten at will and survivors find their way, often subconsciously, to deal with the negative effect abuse has on them by compartmentalizing it in a manner that allows them to function.
They are constantly chained to the traumatic events against their will, much like Prometheus in Greek mythology — Prometheus was a titan who defied the gods and was punished with eternal torment.
The immortal Prometheus was bound to a rock, visited each day by an eagle which fed on his liver considered the source of human emotions in ancient Greece , which would grow back overnight only to be eaten again the following day.
Survivors differed in their coping mechanism following CSA — while some experienced the abuse as a part of their daily lives even after it had ceased, others attempted to obliterate any memory of the abuse by trying to ignore it at will.
This being said, abuse has an effect on survivors, who are constantly aware of the abusive experience, regardless of the amount of time that has passed. Some carry the burden of being abused with them constantly, till they detach from themselves or become numb. The abuse that one carries around constantly acts as a captor, entrapping survivors in a state of disorientation and confusion, where time is meaningless, and the only constant is the abuse itself, as precisely noted by Violet:.
Being abused is like cancer of the soul, it finds its way into little cracks like water and stays there. Between the ages of four and fourteen, Gabriella was sexually abused by her father and at times by her siblings.
I have flashbacks, pictures, disorganized images. Everything was kept inside, stored away, only images, images. Gabriella described the abuse as a burden that she carries with her at all times, slowing her down and keeping her rooted in her past, unable to focus on the present or future. This denies Gabrielle a future that is not colored by the trauma that she endured.
Along with the traumatic memories, Gabriella stored negative feelings, such as shame, guilt, and blame, which accompanied the abuse:. I remember, I have another image of me at 10 and my brother at eight and we are having sex. The terrible thing is that I think that I initiated it, I felt so guilty. Maybe I also initiated it with my father? I was such a pretty girl, I was really so pretty. But on the other hand that was all I knew, that was what I was taught.
While some survivors claimed to obtain a sense of control over the memories of being abused, others, like Tammy noted that the abuse, even when stored away, was a constant element in her married life:.
I remember that while I was married, for quite a few years, 13 or 15 years, the pictures [of the abuse] accompanied me all the time. On the outside, I was one person and on the inside, I was another. Unlike Tammy, Caroline who was raped at age 10, remembers an active act of erasing the abuse in order to refrain from dealing with it:.
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