Karen Saakvitne

Smith College · School for Social Work - Doctoral Program

Provides a comprehensive training curriculum for working with survivors of childhood abuse specially designed for staff in all mental health settings, including public systems. Emphasizing the concepts of empowerment and collaboration, 3 major goals serve as the main focus: (1) a theoretical framework to guide work with survivors of traumatic abuse...

In this article we critique current conceptualizations and methods of studying posttraumatic growth and offer an alternative framework using clinical trauma theory, specifically, Constructivist Self Development Theory (CSDT). We identify five limitations in the current literature: (1) a strict adherence to nomothetic investigation, (2) reliance on...

In response to Hansen, Lambert, and Forman (2002), we discuss major caveats for research in which quantitative research methodology is applied to psychotherapy outcome studies. First, quantitative methodology fits more easily into a medical/disease model of mental illness than a truly psychological model of mental health. Second, results from quant...

Review of Awaiting the Therapist's Baby: A Guide for Expectant Parent- Practitioners by April E. Fallon and Virginia M. Brabender (see record 2003-04017-000 ). This long overdue book looks in detail at the complex influence of the therapist's pregnancy and impending parenthood on the therapist, her patients, and their therapeutic relationships. Fal...

In response to Hansen, Lambert, and Forman (2002), we discuss major caveats for research in which quantitative research methodology is applied to psychotherapy outcome studies. First, quantitative methodology fits more easily into a medical/disease model of mental illness than a truly psychological model of mental health. Second, results from quant...

When both therapist and client share a traumatic event, there are multiple levels of vulnerability to traumatization for the therapist. Our personal vulnerability is not only a backdrop for our clinical work but also an acknowledged fact in many therapeutic relationships, a situation that changes the frame of the work. In addition to clinical chall...

A young woman cannot sleep after a near-miss accident and is troubled by anxiety and persistent fears of driving. A veteran cop is irritable and jumpy and experiencing physiological symptoms of anxiety. An adolescent boy is compelled to wash his hands repeatedly throughout the day. He is troubled by unidentifiable guilt. A survivor of childhood sex...

Replies to the comments by B. K. Eisold (see record 1998-11057-016), which were in response to K. W. Saakvitne's comments (see record 1998-10370-010) on the original article by Eisold (see record 1998-10370-009). Saakvitne has 2 main thoughts. First, it is an inevitable limitation of any clinical commentary that one's response is to the written sum...

Comments on the article by B. K. Eisold (see record #199810370-009), which details the case of heterosexual gender consolidation in a 4.5-yr-old boy—the son of 2 gay fathers—who lost an important female caretaker. It is argued that Eisold grapples with some of the fundamental cultural questions about gender, sexual orientation, and attachment that...

Presents the authors' views of the debate on false memory syndrome in light of the article by K. S. Pope (see record 83-37387). The authors highlight the need to move the debate from the political realm to the scientific realm, and to apply the standards of scientific inquiry and integrity to all claims made by those who would have their message co...

Presents the authors' views of the debate on false memory syndrome in light of the article by K. S. Pope (see record 83-37387). The authors highlight the need to move the debate from the political realm to the scientific realm, and to apply the standards of scientific inquiry and integrity to all claims made by those who would have their message co...

Reviews the book, Victimized daughters: Incest and the development of the female self by Janet Liebman Jacobs (see record 1994-98214-000) that draws on interview data from 50 women to illustrate the impact of childhood incest on female development. The research design uses questionnaire and in-depth interview data that allows for both quantitativ...

"Trauma and the Therapist" explores the role and experience of the therapist in the therapeutic relationship [with adult incest survivors] by examining countertransference (the therapist's response to the client) and vicarious traumatization (the therapist's response to the stories of abuse told by client after client). Therapists' awareness of att...

Managed care directly affects the therapeutic relationship, and therefore the therapeutic process, at 2 levels: (1) the practical level through changes in therapeutic frame, specifically fees and payment, confidentiality, and the boundaries that protect autonomous functioning in the therapy; and (2) the relational meaning level through the introduc...

Over the past decade, there has developed a steadily growing literature on the identification and treatment of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Much of the literature has focused on the incidence and psychological impact of the abuse, and on techniques and stages of treatment. Less attention has been given thus far to the details and nuances of...

the role of early key relationships in shaping later attitudes about oneself and others is discussed focuses on counseling and psychotherapy practice / [discusses] both the context of women's lives and the role of counseling and the counselor in women's recovery from traumatic events (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

In your profession, do you help or work with people who have been traumatized? Do you listen to stories of abuse, suffering, or trauma from your clients every day? If so, you know it is impossible to hear and bear witness to trauma survivors' experiences and not be changed. You know firsthand the personal cost of the work you do and the struggle to...