An 8 page research paper that outlines an intervention program designed to aid women who are substance abusers that were sexually abused as children. Research has shown that women who were sexually abused as children and young adolescents are at-risk for substance abuse disorders to a much higher degree than the general population. It appears as substance abuse develops as a coping method that is a desperate attempt by the adult survivor of child abuse to deal with trauma. The following is a proposal for a treatment program that would be specifically designed to address the needs of these women. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_khaafcsa.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
general population. It appears as substance abuse develops as a coping method that is a desperate attempt by the adult survivor of child abuse to deal with trauma. The following
is a proposal for a treatment program that would be specifically designed to address the needs of these women. The proposed program will be modeled after the integrated multidimensional
treatment model formulated by Bouis, et al (2007). This treatment program includes "individual counseling, group treatment, and psychiatric medication management" (Bouis, et al, 2007, p. 268). Following this model, the
treatment program will consist of three phases of treatment: initial, intermediate and final, with each phase having its own specific goals and emphasis. Having identified the treatment group via pre-assessment
screening, the clinicians administering the treatment program will assume the presence of post-traumatic issues, but postpone the addressing the effect of this past trauma until the clients have developed coping
skills, as research shows that many people turn to illicit substances and/or alcohol to avoid these "emotionally distressful memories" (Bouis, et al, 2007, p. 268). Developing a comprehensive treatment program
that meets the needs of female substance abusers that have childhood histories of sexual abuse is important because this approach holds the potential to substantially benefit these clients. Empirical
research shows that the majority of women, and also a percentage of men, who seek treatment for substance abuse disorders indicate that they also have a history of childhood physical
and/or sexual abuse (Charney, Palacios-Boix and Gill, 2007). Studies have also shown that, in general, adults with a history of childhood abuse have been shown to have an increased incidence
of psychiatric problems and more severe psychiatric problems than the general population (Charney, Palacios-Boix and Gill, 2007). For example, in a study of 100 patients who had been hospitalized for