THE IMPORTANCE OF RESPONSIVENESS
Sexual abuse by church members falls into the severe clinical frames because it occurred at stages of development, where by dependency, age, the individual resources available are more scarce. There is less autonomy and even an inability to re-signify the experience which makes it difficult to share or report the experience and the perpetrators.
In sexual abuse, and even in most traumatic events, there is guilt, shame, fear and/or disgust. In the absence of validated psychotherapeutic intervention, the individual's ability to deal with the event will be limited, forcing the intervention to be carried out by mental health professionals specialized in trauma and psychotraumatology. In trauma, individual resources are not always sufficient, but the results with psychotherapy are very effective, with a high probability of a cure.
In the case of sexual abuse carried out by church members, it is important to emphasize that clinical intervention should be carried out by psychiatrists and psychologists specialized in validated therapies for trauma. In these cases, and because of the amplifications that trauma implies, it must be the most differentiated and specialized of all to intervene, they must be psychotherapists. It is not possible to create teams of mental health technicians without the differentiation that is usually the norm in our organizations; they must be psychotherapists and trauma therapists.
In the course of making resources available, one must bear in mind, for this case of sexual abuse carried out by elements of the Church, that providing support and psychotherapeutic intervention should not be carried out within the structures of the Church, seen as the aggressor, but rather, in neutral and credible structures. This would be one of the missions of the Trauma Observatory, making available and guiding to differentiated Mental Health technicians for the intervention in the different phases of trauma.
It is known nowadays that when certain contents or situations are made public, there must be, immediately, support structures to manage reactions, doubts or even weaknesses. In the case of sexual abuse carried out by elements of the Church, it has been verified that the structures for disclosure and exposure of new reports are active, however, the support and intervention structures remain inactive, which is dangerous. This media approach confuses the clinical and scientific approach. It is imperative to activate units, groups, or intervention centers for these situations. Creating trauma intervention centers would be a clinical and administrative obligation, which is necessary.
Clinical Psychologist, Trauma Observatory/CES Researcher, OT representative member on the ESTSS Board
