Clinical issues in the cognitive analytic therapy of sexually abused women who commit violent offences against their...

Clinical issues arising in the cognitive analytic therapy (CAT; Ryle, 1990) are described for seven sexually abused women who committed violent offences against their partners in intimate relationships. Two principal findings are reported; firstly, support is provided for the original hypothesis of Pollock & Kear-Colwell (1994) in that, following the offence, the women perceived themselves as 'guilty aggressors' and disavowed the role of their own victimization in the commission of the offence; secondly, psychometric data suggested that dissociative states were reported as common experiences for the women before, during and after the offence. The relationship between the abusing-victimized reciprocal role procedure, affective functioning, dissociative states and violent acts is discussed. Themes encountered in the application of CAT for these women are described and a case report is used to illustrate specific treatment issues.