Emotional Freedom Techniques for Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors

Abstract

Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a phenomenon that has affected the lives of many women and female adolescents. Eleven (11) residents of a center for abused females were included in this study. Using the case study research method of Yin, data was gathered from multiple sources. Findings were (1)emotion regulation skills were enhanced for some participants; (2) estrangement or hostility from family contributed to the prevalence of the symptoms; (3) some participants’ precursor to change characteristics may have hindered therapy progress; (4) EFTs lack an emphasis on building therapeutic alliance; (5)Cognitive Behavioral Theory when used with EFTs make the sessions more helpful; (6) outside factors may have affected the worsening or reduction of symptoms; (7) there is a need to distinguish between tapping for day-to-day management of emotions and tapping on core issues; and (8) assessment, case conceptualization, and the preparation of a treatment plan play an important role, if there is to be treatment success. Recommendations include suggestions to enhance the therapeutic process, considerations that need to be made in relation to symptomatology of CSA survivors, their precursor to change characteristics, standardizing the implementation of EFTs, and integrating Cognitive Behavioral Theory with EFTs so that a more structured therapeutic approach can be made.