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Sexual Violence and Sexual Assault on African American Teenagers

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Abstract
Developing a deeper understanding of the traumatic experiences of sexual assault

survivors becomes crucial to ensure the delivery of holistic treatment solutions that can provide

the healing and support mechanisms individuals require to deal with disruptive life

events. African-American teenagers emerging as victims of sexual abuse or assault can benefit

from a wide range of psychotherapeutic interventions such as trauma-focused CBT, group

therapy, and EDMR that will enhance coping skills, reframe the traumatic experiences, deter

negative thinking patterns, and help the defenseless victims manage the complex emotions that

usually lead to self-destructive behavioral tendencies. The paper discusses the aforementioned

strategic interventions through which clinicians can provide psychotherapeutic solutions to

African-American teenagers who have experienced sexual abuse or assault that can damage

internal belief systems and self-perceptions to heightened extents. Trauma-focused cognitive

behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), group therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and

Reprocessing (EDMR) have delivered evidence-based results when alleviating emotional distress

associated with traumatic events. The content incorporates criticism of three research articles that

highlight the application of these therapeutic interventions so that definitive insights regarding

their utility become available. The following sections go into an in-depth discussion regarding

the chosen therapeutic intervention (TF-CBT) and how the technique can aid the development of

a resilience model within the minds of victims, protecting them from negative self-talk and

emotional distress. The definitive method through which a clinician must implement a well-

structured intervention plan in collaboration with the patient also achieves attention. The paper

ends with a concluding paragraph highlighting the key findings from the research articles.
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Sexual Violence and Sexual Assault on African American Teenagers

African American teenagers experience disruptive levels of sexual violence and assault

that negatively affect psycho-behavioral outcomes, general mental health, and self-esteem in the

long run. Law enforcement authorities highlight how two-thirds of all victims reporting sexual

assault remain below 18. In most cases, the offender is either an acquaintance or a close family

member who utilizes coercion and psychological manipulation to exploit the individual. Children

and adolescents rarely gain access to support systems, and they often fear the social backlash that

ultimately prevents them from reporting such traumatic events. Interventions are crucial to

address the underlying disruptions and enhance the coping abilities so vulnerable individuals can

aim at recovery. African-American teenagers emerging as victims of sexual abuse or assault can

benefit from a wide range of psychotherapeutic interventions such as trauma-focused CBT,

group therapy, and EDMR that will enhance coping skills, reframe the traumatic experiences,

deter negative thinking patterns, and help the defenseless victims manage the complex emotions

that usually lead to self-destructive behavioral tendencies.

Through trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, clinicians can address upsetting

attributions and beliefs, aiding cognitive coping. Group therapy also provides significant

benefits, helping vulnerable individuals find a safe space to express their internal disruptions and

learn from others who experienced similar struggles. Experts can also focus on the advantages of

EDMR, which guarantees short-term psychiatric interventions and healing in less than four

sessions. While locating the sources for this paper, the focus emerged on popular online libraries

where keyword searches helped discover distinctive articles providing content on popular

intervention techniques reserved for sexual abuse and assault survivors. It was crucial to examine
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if the research articles went through a peer-review process. A quick review of the journal's

reputation, the works cited section, and the authors' credentials helped verify credibility.

Literature review

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (Article 1)

Researchers in this article highlight how TF-CBT has emerged as the leading

psychotherapeutic intervention when dealing with childhood trauma. Several studies have

demonstrated empirical support for this treatment method in sexual abuse and assault.

Adolescents and children with histories of sexual exploitation and human trafficking have

benefited extensively from this therapeutic technique, which has achieved the gold standard

compared to other interventions. Experts in this paper have identified how trauma-focused

cognitive behavioral therapy can address a variety of disruptive elements that negatively impact

adolescents, such as the threat of legal action (deportation), psychological manipulation,

psychological coercion, running away behaviors, lack of community involvement, and

pregnancy by sexual assault (Márquez, Deblinger & Dovi, 2020). In this study, the assistance of

non-offending caregivers also became mandatory for handling evident behavioral difficulties.

After 20 treatment sessions incorporating conjoint caregiver-youth sessions, individual sessions

for the caregiver, and individual sessions for the aggrieved victim, the experts identified a

significant decrease in post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. The multisource measures

completed at the end and the beginning of the treatment program also confirmed a reduction in

depressive disorders, highlighting this intervention's heightened success rates. Despite exposure

to severe trauma, this short-term and cost-effective approach supports the psychological

adjustment of victims who experience extreme sexual exploitation. Subjects also reported

reduced psychosocial difficulties and enhanced emotional resilience.

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Group therapy (Article 2)

This paper highlights how group therapy emerges as an empirically supported and widely

utilized treatment solution for subjects experiencing the disruptive effects of child sexual abuse.

When experts create trauma-focused groups for such victims, attention emerges on the

presentation and composition of the trauma narrative that can provide psychological healing,

raise awareness, change perspectives, and aid the development of a resilience model. The

researchers identified how minors in a group often remain reluctant to develop a trauma narrative

and indulge in contagious avoidance that can deter progress. When mitigating these challenges,

focus emerged on creative group therapeutic interventions that reduced resistance to processing

and constructing trauma narratives in the treatment sessions. Young children and adolescents

with limited language capabilities benefit from expressive arts interventions as they often do not

have the required words and vocabulary to describe their traumatic events (Shuman et al., 2022).

The paper highlights several creative therapeutic activities that can aid the processing and

creation of a trauma narrative, ultimately facilitating better-coping skills and cohesion among

members in the group setting. The techniques can encourage youngsters with limited language

capabilities to express themselves artistically and process their life events without issues. The

researchers experimented with art, play, drama, sensory, comics, music, dance, and yoga

interventions in the group to help the subjects better express their internal conflicts and resolve

emotional distress. Children and adolescents emerging as sexual abuse victims experience

betrayal to a severe extent. When they gain access to various creative means while expressing

their narratives, a sense of control and autonomy gains momentum, which provides confidence

and boosts the treatment programs in the best ways possible. In group therapies, minors require

expressive activities that trigger engagement. Experts need to completely process and access the
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sensory, affective, and cognitive aspects of trauma in children. In that case, they must utilize

these artistic interventions as subjects often remain reluctant to construct verbal narratives and

show signs of avoidance that thwart research objectives.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) (Article 3)

Researchers in this paper assessed the efficacy of EMDR techniques when dealing with

women who experienced unsettling degrees of domestic violence and sexual trauma. In a mixed-

methods study, 21 adult female clients participated in eight EMDR sessions and subjected

themselves to in-person interviews for thorough qualitative assessments. Experts utilized the

PTSD Checklist (PLC-5) for DSM-V, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Beck Depression

Inventory-II, and the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 to measure levels of depression, overall

wellness, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety. Noteworthy improvement in each measure became

apparent when experts conducted evaluations with the help of paired sample t-tests. Interview

rounds further verified the findings and pointed out the effectiveness of EMDR techniques that

can increase confidence, boost the therapeutic process, strengthen hope, and decrease depression

among victims (Schwarz et al., 2020). The clients pointed out how the therapeutic intervention

was less intrusive and did not mandate excessive recalling and reliving of the distressing past

events that often trigger emotional distress. Within a short period and with the assistance of a

few sessions, subjects could experience significant symptom reduction that aided the easy

management of family, relationships, and work. After completing the intervention programs,

they could stop the trauma from affecting their lives. A noteworthy reduction in the vividness of

unsettling memories indicated success, and clients also reported how they did not experience

dysfunctional reactions when mentally replaying the traumatic events.

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A deeper assessment can help clinicians identify how subjects hold self-limiting beliefs at

the subconscious level that revolve around unhappy or troublesome experiences. EMDR

treatment focuses on removing the negative influences these subconscious belief systems trigger.

The sessions reveal to patients that they can positively alter their interpretation of an event or

neutralize the associated emotional distress to facilitate good outcomes. Talk therapy often

delays the delivery of an expected result, whereas EMDR adopts a fast-track approach. Subjects

often do not have to divulge critical details regarding the past and can even avail the solutions if

they fail to vocalize their experiences.

The intervention that would best fit my practice style

My preferred practice style revolves around altering the negative thought patterns and

belief systems that affect the psychological well-being of victims emerging with a history of

sexual abuse and assault. The approach has demonstrated heightened effectiveness for several

complications, including severe mental illness, eating disorders, marital problems, drug use,

alcohol abuse, anxiety disorders, and depression. Compared to other treatment styles that

incorporate medication, therapeutic approaches in this avenue do not yield disruptive side effects

that can often take a toll on a patient’s lifestyle triggering hormonal imbalances, changes in

appetite, and insomnia at the same instance. Over time this form of talk therapy can easily

replace negative thoughts and transform the inner critics and ruminating tendencies in the best

ways possible. Vulnerable patients can recognize the distortions that affect critical thinking.

Reevaluating experiences and events in light of reality can help in reshaping narratives that

ultimately deliver a positive outcome in the long run. Patients remain capable of understanding

their motivations and behaviors that help them gain control in life. When implementing talk

therapies, clinicians can incorporate family members in the discussion sessions to better
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understand the narratives and facilitate the development of cohesive bonds. Non-offending

parents have crucial roles when reframing traumatic experiences and keeping victims safe from

future harm, as minors depend on their support systems to overcome the psychological

disruptions and barriers that impede recovery (Brown, Cohen & Mannarino, 2020).

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy would best fit my practice style if I had to

work as a clinician with sexual abuse victims. The therapeutic measure has ensured the delivery

of positive outcomes and has successfully met individual needs in extreme cases where

adolescents emerged with a history of labor exploitation and sex trafficking, proving its efficacy.

Even though CBT techniques are not associated with affective processes, researchers

increasingly recognize how this therapeutic intervention has a dominant role when delivering

positive effects on emotional processing. Clinicians design talk therapies to reduce the adverse

outcomes of psychiatric symptoms, and in turn, they facilitate emotional processing in the most

holistic manner possible. Emotional processing theory identifies how victims can formulate

adaptive responses across physiological, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive domains (Alpert et

al., 2021). Changing automatic thoughts, inner critics, and ruminating behaviors can positively

impact an individual's affective state. Trauma-focused CBT can neutralize the disruptive

memories and emotions that trigger dissociation, agitation, anxiety, confusion, and self-

destructive behaviors by changing the internal narrative victims harbor in their minds.

In untreated and neglected conditions, sexual abuse has severe implications on mental

health as it psychologically disrupts individuals in the short term and negatively affects

developmental outcomes (Tichelaar, Deković & Endendijk, 2020). Treatment often incorporates

a well-structured implementation plan through which clinicians can chart an objective path

toward recovery and effectively solicit collaboration when working with victims. In a
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hypothetical case, an African-American female teenager named Aaliyah can arrive at the facility

to resolve traumatic experiences related to sexual abuse. The vulnerable individual will require a

trained clinician who must emerge with a carefully crafted intervention plan and a professional

approach to deal with the complications and provide the necessary therapeutic services in the

best ways possible. Bespoke solutions can become significant when assessing the conditions of a

victim, and adjustments in traditional intervention plans will become crucial accordingly.

However, professionals must abide by a list of best practices when implementing intervention

plans as they statistically guarantee holistic outcomes.

Engaging in collaborative practice will depend on joining with the client system, which

clinicians must prioritize to facilitate trust, improve treatment outcomes, and gain high

engagement. Prime importance must emerge on establishing holistic relationships with the

patient in question as positive interactions can aid the development of a supportive environment

that would be crucial for individuals to express themselves without hesitation and reveal critical

details to the clinician delivering psychotherapeutic solutions. Experts identify how deep feelings

of shame obstruct victims when they attempt to report and express sexual abuse incidents (Haim,

2023). The client's philosophies will require thorough assessment as clinicians can better

examine certain beliefs from these narratives. The evaluation will focus on information such as

mental health history, substance abuse disorders, treatment expectations, trauma symptoms,

names of prior psychotherapists, and the therapeutic interventions they indulged in while

mitigating the disruptive conditions. Creating or adjusting a treatment plan with the vulnerable

individual will provide a sense of value as the patient will feel included in the entire process,

which will solicit collaboration and increase engagement levels.

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While beginning the intervention, I would encourage Aaliyah to explain the disruptive

events and try to spark conversations that can allow the discovery of challenging thoughts within

her mind. Carefully exploring her thinking patterns will help identify the negative statements that

cause most of the issues. After clinicians collect the unsettling narrative from the patients, they

can utilize TF-CBT to establish a resilience-building model that shields vulnerable individuals

from their inner critic (Cowan, Ashai & Gentile, 2020). Rephrasing these negative statements

will become crucial, and focus must emerge on introducing a positive description that better

outlines the traumatic events and reshapes self-perception. Through cognitive restructuring, it

would be essential to bring Aaliyah out of the victim mentality that often remains associated with

deep levels of negative self-talk and helplessness. While altering the narrative, I will introduce

empowering thoughts into her mind that would act as an anchor, relieving her of the painful

thoughts and emotional distress.

Conclusion

Psychotherapeutic interventions are crucial to restructure the damaged self-esteem that

African-American teenagers experience after going through disruptive levels of sexual violence

and abuse. They usually encounter frequent anxiety attacks that hamper community and social

functioning in the worst ways imaginable. The interventions focus on strengthening coping

mechanisms that positively impact mental health conditions. Trauma-focused cognitive

behavioral therapy can tackle deep feelings of shame and help vulnerable individuals process

disruptive memories. The frameworks aid in overcoming problematic thoughts and assist victims

in developing interpersonal and coping skills. Group therapy facilitates a robust support system

where vulnerable individuals find a safe space to express their internal conflicts and relate to

others in healthier ways. The insights received from similar victims can help change the
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perspective related to an experience that ultimately leads toward positive outcomes. EDMR

therapy, on the other hand, addresses circular thinking and high anxiety levels, ultimately

eliminating the loop of self-criticism and self-doubt that emerges as the hallmark of depression.

Practitioners can either utilize a preferred psychotherapeutic intervention or a combination of

multiple methods to deliver holistic outcomes when dealing with victims of sexual abuse and

assault. Though clinicians and psychotherapists must focus on techniques they have the most

expertise in, experimentation can be crucial to identify the best approach for the victims. Specific

procedures may guarantee greater client engagement and willingness to participate, thereby

boosting recovery in the best ways possible.

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References

Alpert, E., Hayes, A. M., Yasinski, C., Webb, C., & Deblinger, E. (2021). Processes of change in

trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for youths: An approach informed by

emotional processing theory. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(2), 270-283.

Brown, E. J., Cohen, J. A., & Mannarino, A. P. (2020). Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral

therapy: The role of caregivers. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 39-45.

Cowan, A., Ashai, A., & Gentile, J. P. (2020). Psychotherapy with survivors of sexual abuse and

assault. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 17(1-3), 22.

Haim, M. D. (2023). A Renewed Observation of the Treatment of Sexual Abuse in a Therapeutic

Setting for Eating Disorders. Dance/Movement Therapy and Sexual Abuse: Assessment

and Intervention Based on Body-Mind Approaches.

Márquez, Y. I., Deblinger, E., & Dovi, A. T. (2020). The value of trauma-focused cognitive

behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) in addressing the therapeutic needs of trafficked youth: A

case study. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 27(3), 253-269. (Article 1)

Schwarz, J. E., Baber, D., Barter, A., & Dorfman, K. (2020). A mixed methods evaluation of

EMDR for treating female survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Counseling

Outcome Research and Evaluation, 11(1), 4-18. (Article 3)

Shuman, T., Johnson, K., Lively Cookson, L., & Gilbert, N. (2022). Creative interventions for

preparing and disclosing trauma narratives in group therapy for child sexual

abuse. Journal of child sexual abuse, 31(1), 127-146. (Article 2)

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Tichelaar, H. K., Deković, M., & Endendijk, J. J. (2020). Exploring effectiveness of

psychotherapy options for sexually abused children and adolescents: A systematic review

of randomized controlled trials. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105519.