Abstracts Category : Other

Improving thecareer resilience of a survivor of sexual abuse

by Cobus Venter

Scant literature is available on victims of sexualabuse who are still presiding in the same environment in which thesexual abuse occurred. Sexual abuse has been shown to causesymptoms of depression, feelings of low self-worth, low moraljudgment and feelings of guilt. This study attempted to enhance thecareer resilience of a sexual abuse survivor by means of lifedesign counselling. The research questions focussed mainly on thecharacteristics of sexual abuse and career resilience, theinfluence of sexual abuse on career resilience and how life designcounselling can contribute to the career resilience of survivors ofsexual abuse. The study was based on a single case study(intrinsic) design and a QUALITATIVE-quantitative approach. Theobservations and qualitative findings suggested that childhoodsexual abuse (CSA) did influence the survivor?s intrinsicrepresentations about herself as well as about others. The findingsconfirm the impact of CSA on survivors, highlighting previousresearch on CSA and its influence on future development (personaland emotional), as well as future career resilience and careeradaptability. Life design counselling made it suitable as anintervention to be used with survivors of sexual abuse since itexplores clients? subjective identity forms as influenced by theirexperiences and culminates in the writing of new stories. The studycontributed to a more complete and comprehensive understanding ofCSA and indicated that the life design counselling therapeuticintervention positively enhanced the participant?sself-insight.Advisors/Committee Members: Maree, J.G. (advisor).