Counselling Sexual-Violence Survivors: The Evolution of Female Counsellors’ Critical Political Consciousness and the Effects on Their Intimate Relationships

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  • Mary Kate Garrity Ryerson University

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Trauma counselling##common.commaListSeparator## sexual violence##common.commaListSeparator## transformative learning##common.commaListSeparator## intimacy

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This social constructivist/constructionist research explores changes in female therapists’ intimate relationships after they began working with survivors of female sexual violence. Discourse analysis found that working with survivors shifted participants’ initially naive understanding of female sexual violence, as they developed a critical political consciousness of sexual violence in the process. Transformative learning theory is used to describe this process. As participants’ new consciousness developed, aspects of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural intimacy within their intimate relationships were affected. To better prepare therapists for working with survivors of female sexual violence, greater attention to counselling-training curricula is recommended.

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  • ##submission.authorWithAffiliation##
    Dr. Garrity is an Assistant Professor in the school and is currently the Community Health Nursing Theory Lead Teacher. Mary Kate has a Doctorate of Education in Counselling Psychology for Community Settings. She has held several positions in clinical practice, including several years as a Public Health Nurse and as a staff nurse at the Hospital for Sick Children. Her research foci include working with women survivors of sexual violence and evaluating nursing curriculum. Mary Kate currently teaches in the collaborative nursing program and acts as a faculty advisor to undergraduate and graduate students. She is also the present chair of the Collaborative SRC committee. Mary Kate is a member of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), the Lambda-Pi-at-Large chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, and also an active member within her community through her participation on a neighbourhood safety committee and as a psychotherapist.

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2010-09-09

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##issue.vol## 45 ##issue.no## 1 (2011)

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Articles/ Articles

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Copyright is retained by the Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

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Counselling Sexual-Violence Survivors: The Evolution of Female Counsellors’ Critical Political Consciousness and the Effects on Their Intimate Relationships. (2010). Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 45(1). https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/rcc/article/view/58997