Betrayed as Boys: Psychodynamic Treatment of Sexually Abused Men

by Richard B. Gartner PhD

Overview

In the growing professional literature on child sexual abuse, few books focus specifically on the experience of victimized boys and men. Interweaving vital elements of psychodynamic and trauma-oriented clinical practice, this much-needed volume examines how sexual betrayal affects boys, the ways they carry this hurt into adulthood, and how therapists can address the unique needs of men with sexual abuse histories. Exploring the impact of abuse on men's emotional development, gender and sexual identity, and relationships, the book provides in-depth consideration of individual and group treatment issues. Numerous case examples draw readers into the direct experience of these clients and the clinicians who work with them and illuminate their continually shifting relational world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572304673
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	04/09/1999
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Richard B. Gartner, PhD, trained as both a family therapist and an interpersonal psychoanalyst. A graduate of the William Alanson White Institute in New York City, he is now Director of the Institute's Center for the Study of Psychological Trauma as well as founder and Director of the Sexual Abuse Program that operates under the Center's auspices. He has written and spoken extensively on the treatment of men sexually abused as boys. Dr. Gartner is a consultant and supervisor at the Center for Abuse and Incest at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis, is on the editorial boards of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and the American Journal of Psychoanalysis, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization. He practices in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Sexual Betrayal of Boys
2. Encoding Sexual Abuse as Sexual Initiation
3. Struggles about Masculinity
4. Same-Sex Abuse
5. The Familial and Cultural Context of Abuse
6. The Effect of Chronic Boundary Violations
7. Dissociation and Multiple Self-States
8. Intimate Relatedness
9. The Patient/n-/Therapist Dyad
10. Gender and the Therapeutic Relationship (with Sue A. Shapiro)
11. Group Therapy
Afterword

Interviews

Clinicians working with individuals, families, and groups; educators and students interested in psychodynamic perspectives on trauma, gender, and human sexuality.

Editorial Reviews

"This volume provides important tools not only for clinicians working with individuals, families and groups, but also for educators and others interested in psychodynamic perspectives on trauma, gender, and sexuality."

Digest of Neurology and Psychiatry

"This book is recommended reading whether abuse is the focus of treatment or not. Gartner presents effective strategies for dealing with such difficult childhoods by blending insights from trauma work with his interpersonal psychoanalytic perspective. In this much-needed volume, Gartner presents new information and new enlightenment that help unravel the tangled cultural, developmental, and dynamic issues that shape men's reactions to early sexual abuse."

The Psychoanalytic Quarterly

"Gartner offers a scholarly and clinically astute contribution to an increasingly rich body of literature on the traumatic aftermath faced by men who were sexually abused as boys. He discredits some harmful myths....Abundant and perceptive clinical vignettes evoke deep and often disquieting responses....This is important reading for everyone working with sexually abused men; for psychodynamic psychotherapists and students, it is required."

Readings

"Relevant and rewarding to clinicians of all theoretical orientations. The book is especially valuable in building bridges between psychoanalytic concepts and newer conceptualizations of trauma and its treatment. Gartner's treatment of masculine gender identity and intimacy issues for both heterosexual and homosexual males is especially sensitive and compelling."

Psychiatric Times

"[A] comprehensive, insightful book....Should be of great interest to all therapists working in this burgeoning area of clinical practice."

American Journal of Psychotherapy

"I was moved and inspired by Betrayed as Boys....Although published in 1999, the theories remain not only contemporary but cutting edge in the field of boyhood sexual victimization....This work distinguishes itself alongside the literature on female sexual abuse. It remains fresh and is an indispensable text in the field of male sexual victimization. Dr. Gartner, a preeminent psychoanalyst, provides the reader with an interior view of the rugged, complex, and frequently ambiguous terrain of how it feels, what it is like, and what clinicians need to understand to treat this most challenging population."

Journal of Trauma and Dissociation

"Betrayed as Boys is a thoughtful and perceptive contribution. Dr. Gartner's voluminous and sensitive clinical material illuminates the difficulties, dilemmas, and rewards of working with sexually traumatized men. Here are insights and useful observations in abundance. This book belongs in the library of all clinicians who treat the victims of childhood sexual abuse." —Richard P. Kluft, MD Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine, Co-editor, Clinical Perspectives on Multiple Personality Disorder

"This book helps to bring psychodynamic psychotherapy back to its roots, and to lift the veil that has too long obscured the childhood sexual abuse of males. It would be a useful text in a graduate course dealing with the treatment issues of males." —Mic Hunter, PsyD, author of Abused Boys, editor of The Sexually Abused Male

"This much-needed contribution to the trauma literature informs clinicians, researchers, and scholars about the tragic consequences for men who were sexually traumatized as boys. Gartner's presentation of extensive clinical vignettes bespeaks an author who is theoretically sophisticated and clinically experienced, and who has the courage to present his work forthrightly. The book is scholarly, beautifully written, and infused with an affectively gripping immediacy. It is an important and long-overdue resource for anyone interested in a more thorough understanding of the sexual abuse of boys and its sequelae." —Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst, Nyack, NY, Treating the Adult Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse

From the Publisher

Examines how sexual abuse affects boys and the ways in which they carry this hurt into adulthood. Blends psychoanalytic understanding with insights from trauma-oriented theory and practice to present effective strategies for meeting the unique therapeutic needs of men with sexual abuse histories. Evocative clinical material draws readers into the direct experience of these clients, the therapists who work with them, and the constantly shifting relational world they inhabit. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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