“Trust of others is in short supply for many adult survivors, as complex trauma generally involves major relational betrayal. It is, therefore, expectable (although paradoxical) that clients with these histories are predisposed to be mistrustful at the outset of therapy,… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“The overarching principle of a therapeutic relationship is that therapists should be ever mindful of a variant of the Hippocratic oath and, to the… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“... the silent client may be experienced as withholding, oppositional, and sulking or as holding the therapist "hostage" in ways that elicit resentment and… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Type II trauma also often occurs within a closed context - such as a family, a religious group, a workplace, a chain of command,… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Therapy must begin with empathy - not a patronizing sympathy, but instead one that is unflinching (Marotta, 2003). Empathy of this sort is highly… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“If the therapist understands and does not take mistrust as personal affront, the therapeutic relationship can evolve gradually. The client can begin to recognize… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“...some adolescent survivors describe feeling special, powerful, and sometimes entitled. This is especially true of those for whom excessive attention was part of the… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Trust of others is in short supply for many adult survivors, as complex trauma generally involves major relational betrayal. It is, therefore, expectable (although… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“... as Herman (1992b) cogently noted two decades ago, these personality disorders can be iatrogenic, causing harm to individuals as an inadvertent result of… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“The act of consciously and purposefully paying attention to symptoms and their antecedents and consequences makes the symptoms more an objective target for thoughtful… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Kaffman (2009) described childhood victimization as a "silent epidemic", and Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, and Hamby (2010) reported that children are the most traumatized class… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“With regard to complex trauma survivors, self-determination and autonomy require that the therapist treat each client as the "authority" in determining the meaning and… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Their experiences led them to create assumptions about others and related beliefs about themselves such as "this is my lot in life" and "this… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“The development of a working alliance is crucial because it addresses a psychic phobia associated with relationships that is common in complex trauma clients.… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“... every therapist must develop enough personal maturity, clinical wisdom, and capacity for good judgment to effectively and safely conduct psychotherapy, an imperative that… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
“Thus polyvictimization or complex trauma are "developmentally adverse interpersonal traumas" (Ford, 2005) because they place the victim at risk not only for recurrent stress… — Christine A. Courtois Copy Share Image
