‘Saviour! I've no one else to tell — And so I trouble thee’, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830–1886). Often children who have experienced sexual assault wish only to disclose to the individual with whom they have formed a therapeutic bond. For many practitioners, however, disclosure results in referral. Reasons can include uncertainty about legal obligations, or self-doubt regarding one's professional competence to manage and therapeutically treat the disclosure. The authors of The Bravehearts Toolbox for Practitioners Working with Child Sexual Assault tackle these issues and provide therapeutic tools for practitioners who have received a disclosure. Bravehearts recommends that it is preferable for practitioners who have received a sexual assault disclosure to continue working with the young person, particularly if a therapeutic relationship has already been formed. This book aims to equip practitioners with the knowledge, skills, and techniques needed to professionally, ethically, and legally manage the disclosure of sexual assault.
This is a process-orientated and skills-based resource for practitioners working with child sexual assault. The book guides practitioners towards understanding the indicators, presenting behaviours and long and short-term outcomes for children who have experienced sexual assault. It provides a voice to the often silent and isolating experiences of these children.
McKillop, Ronken, and Vidler have thoughtfully outlined appropriate responses for practitioners, from reporting sexual assault to detailing therapeutic processes and activities for specific age groups between the ages of 5–14 years and over. The activities aim to assist practitioners to work with anger, avoidance, self-blame and sleep issues, and to teach personal safety, self-esteem, positive self-talk and appropriate boundaries. A psycho-educational component identifies healthy and unhealthy sexual behaviours and provides a holistic response to sexual assault. The text equips practitioners with a guide to not only assist young people, but also to work alongside others who will accompany the young person through his or her sexual assault journey. These people include parents and caregivers, who provide important support for young people and ensure their future safety.
The final chapter is dedicated to the ‘toll on the therapist’ and serves as an important reminder of self-care. Funding and resource deficits, as well as the difficulties of working with vulnerable children, mean that practitioners can become ‘emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted’ (p. 113). A ‘self-care assessment’ is provided by the authors, who acknowledge this important facet of working with this particular client population.
To conclude, The Bravehearts Toolbox for Practitioners Working with Child Sexual Assault is an activity-rich resource of therapeutic responses for when children disclose sexual assault. In light of the book's estimate that ‘one in four girls and between one in seven and one in twelve boys are victims of sexual abuse’ (p. 24; see James, 2000), this is a welcome resource for practitioners working with young people.
