Books & Reviews

Christiane Sanderson
Counselling in Wandsworth / Putney Borders
Expert  in  Child Sexual Abuse,  Domestic Abuse  and Trauma

Books & Reviews
28th March 2024 
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Books & Reviews. Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse 2

Christiane as an Author

My writing allows me to communicate with a wider audience and share my knowledge and experience. I enjoy the whole process of communication through writing books in the hope that this will facilitate greater understanding among a wide range of professionals who in turn may find this useful in their work to aid healing and recovery.

Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse

"This is a thoughtful, informative and thorough response to the complex and sensitive issues surrounding counselling for those who have experienced domestic abuse...it is a great book and will be invaluable to professionals working within the therapeutic process whether GP's, mental health professionals, counsellors, midwives, social workers or independent domestic abuse advisers, to name but a few. Student's of various disciplines reflected by these professions should be recommended this book as essential reading." Professional Social Work

"Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse provides an excellent resource for counsellors and health professionals who work with domestic abuse...it is an essential read not only to better understand the phenomenology of survivors, but also to facilitate self-reflection and self-understanding." Health Care Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal

"This is a useful addition to the library of an established counsellor." Nursing Standard

Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse explains how counsellors can facilitate recovery from domestic abuse within a secure, supportive therapeutic relationship.
There has been growing awareness in recent years of the impact and consequences of domestic abuse, especially the relationship between domestic abuse and mental health.
To appreciate the nature of trauma caused by domestic abuse, professionals need to understand its complex nature and the psychobiological impact of repeated exposure to control and terror.

This book examines the therapeutic techniques and specific challenges, such as secondary traumatic stress, faced by professionals when working with survivors of domestic abuse.

The author stresses the importance of identifying domestic abuse so that it can be addressed in the therapeutic process to aid recovery, and explores issues such as safety and protection, the long-term effects of abuse and the importance of grieving to the restoration of hope.

This book is essential reading for counsellors, therapists, social workers, mental health professionals, health care professionals including GPs and midwives, managers of refuges, legal professionals and all those working with survivors of domestic abuse.

"The book is hugely informative on psychological aspects of domestic abuse as well as drawing together applicable clinical thinking from a wide range of theoretical orientations, with extensive bibliography and indexes..............Comprehensive reviews on working with trauma, loss and issues of self-esteem........This is a useful teaching and study aid, a reference book for agencies to keep to hand, as well as a ‘secure base’ for domestic abuse specialists to develop and refresh their skills..."
- Therapy Today February 2009


Books & Reviews. Counselling Adult Survivors of CSA

Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse 3rd Edition


Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2006)

Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse is now in its third edition and continues to be a recommended text by universities and training institutes. It juxtaposes current research and theory with clinical application and practical strategies that can be employed to best effect when working with survivors of child sexual abuse. The book utilises case material to complement research and theory and considers the impact such work has on professionals.

“ ...a wealth of information and practical strategies that can be employed to best effect when working with CSA...easy to read, follow and understand...this book will be of great value to those already working with CSA survivors and for those who are considering such work.” Therapy Today

“The third edition of this book is shaped by current research and the author’s clinical experience and links current knowledge of child sexual abuse with its impact and long term effects. The aim is to explore how clinicians can best work with presenting symptoms” The Psychologist


Books & Reviews. The Seduction of Children

The Seduction of Children: Empowering Parents and Teachers to Protect Children from Child Sexual Abuse


Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2004)

The Seduction of Children explores contemporary issues within the field of child sexual abuse such as the myths and realities of child sexual abuse, how paedophiles gain access to children by grooming both caregivers and the child, the use of child abuse images, internet abuse and the signs and symptoms of child sexual abuse.

The book also includes information on children’s sexual development and how parents and teachers can protect children from child sexual abuse and what to do if they are concerned a child is being abused. The Seduction of Children has also been translated and published in Croatia and Brazil.

“...the comprehensive scope of this book and the diverse chapters, ranging from the development of children’s sexuality, the grooming cycle of paedophiles, abuse by mobile phone and pseudo internet images, to the effects of abuse...is extremely informative and ...a useful manual for the professional due to the depth and accessibility of information.” British Journal of Social Work

“...any child care professional would gain useful knowledge from this informative book.” Community Care
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Also translated and published in Brazil, Croatia and Turkey.

“I’m a paediatric doctor in Brazil and I’d like to congratulate you for the excellent work in the sexual abuse area. Since 2006 I have worked training teachers and parents on how to prevent sexual assault and deliver an intensive sexual education to children (and your book The Seduction of Children was the key to start my work…….By now, we have trained over 3.000 teaches and parents and it’s going on and on.
Thanks again for being our inspiration from the other side of the Atlantic and keep going.”


Fabricio Meyer, MD for detail of the work carried out in Brazil just click here


To visit Jessica Kingsley website just click here


Books & Reviews. Autumn2009

Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma

The betrayal of trust and dehumanisation in interpersonal trauma creates paradoxes that distort the survivor’s reality, leading to alterations in perception, withdrawal and disconnection from self and others. Christiane Sanderson’s new book explains how counsellors can help to restore reality and promote re-connection to self and others to facilitate recovery within a safe and supportive therapeutic relationship.

The book provides a solid understanding of the nature, dynamics, impact, and long-term effects of interpersonal trauma, and explains how to create a secure therapeutic base from which to explore and integrate its effects. Clinical examples are used throughout to highlight the unique features of each type of interpersonal trauma and to illustrate how to work most effectively with survivors of such trauma. Professional challenges and the impact of counselling survivors of interpersonal trauma are also examined in order to minimise the risk of vicarious traumatisation and secondary traumatic stress.

This book is essential reading for counsellors, therapists, social workers, mental health professionals, health care professionals including GPs and midwives, legal professionals and all those working with survivors of interpersonal trauma, including sexual violence, child abuse, domestic abuse, elder abuse, institutional abuse and abuse by professionals.

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Reviews from Amazon Viewers

4.0 out of 5 stars A great, very engaging book even for a general reader., 12 Jan 2010
By
J. Murray "Curious Reader" (UK)

Christiane Sanderson's new book is a real tour de force. She introduces a number of areas of interpersonal trauma such as child abuse, domestic abuse, elder abuse, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and rape, institutional abuse, as well as sexual abuse by therapists,
While some of these topics make for uncomfortable reading the book is written in clear and accessible language. The style of writing is very engaging and will appeal not just to professionals but also the general reader, including survivors of interpersonal trauma. For me this book is even easier to read than some of her other books on the subject. The early chapters are particularly illuminating in describing how abusers entice and ensnare potential victims through the use of deception and manipulation. The book really captures how survivors are coerced, dehumanised and forced to surrender through the use of isolation and the distortion of reality. I found the description of how abusers create paradoxes that cannot be resolved wherein care and affection masquerades as abuse most useful in understanding how survivors are forced to submit and how this impacts on them. I found the book an invaluable resource to help make sense of my own experiences and restore trust in my own perceptions. The message of hope throughout the book is a powerful one in restoring control to the survivor so that they can reconnect to the concealed aspects of the self, to others and the world. Reading this book was like a therapeutic journey to self discovery which has restored my vitality and helped me to live more authentically.

5.0 out of 5 stars Shedding light on a dark area of life, 9 Dec 2009
By E. R. Taylor (UK)

This book will be of value to therapists of all persuasions as well as to the lay reader. It is clearly a distillation of the wisdom gained from years of humane clinical experience. With helpful chapter summaries and many illustrative case vignettes, it is both accessible and hard-hitting. The author provides a thoroughly convincing (if sometimes disturbing) account of what counsellors in the field of interpersonal trauma need to know, ranging from child sexual abuse to elder abuse and from rape to sexual slavery. Not least, it stresses the need for therapists and counsellors to protect themselves from secondary traumatic stress. For the lay reader, who may have absorbed media-peddled stereotypes of `victim' and perpetrator, it will be a revelation.

amazon book review

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, 13 April 2010

By
Tom Sawyer "Tom" (London, UK) - see all my reviews
This review is from: Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma (Paperback)
As a student psychotherapist this is an indispensable book which will appeal to any one interested in this subject or suffering for domestic abuse. Excellently written too.


"Sanderson writes readably and positively...that a vital part of the work is in developing an empathic relationship in which the client can begin to trust in a human relationship, possibly for the first time....Chapters have a clear structure, excellent summaries and each is illustrated by a relevant case vignette. A valuable addition to staff bookshelves. This book has given me a far clearer understanding of the insidiousness of the traps laid by abusers, and of the liminal world in which the quarry both 'knows' but 'does not know'; such is the power of the abuser's entrapment." Therapy Today May, 2010


Books & Reviews. warriorwithin4

The Warrior Within - A One in Four Handbook to aid Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse and Violence

The legacy of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can haunt survivors into adulthood. To have survived so far shows that you possess a number of valuable resources, not least your warrior within. This handbook will support the strength and courage of the warrior within by providing additional resources and exercises to help you take ownership of your recovery and begin to rebuild your life and embrace a better future.


The focus is on regaining control over the traumatic effects of CSA and to improve the quality of your life. As you can begin to take more control over your life, you will rediscover aspects of yourself that have gone into hiding, and reclaim these to become who you were meant to be. Your warrior within will become your inspiration so that you can restore the qualities that you most admire yet have had to deny. Your recovery will free you from the paralysing hold CSA has had over you and allow you to live a more authentic, fulfilling and meaningful life,

The book is for both female and male survivors of CSA and sexual violence, whether abused by male or female abusers, either within, or outside the family, or in a religious context. It is a portable resource which will support you when you most need it. It is designed to help you pace your recovery and to create a safe, secure base within that allows you to regain trust in yourself. In reconnecting to yourself you will be able to reconnect to others and the world. Together with your warrior within it will help you to triumph over trauma and move from surviving to thriving to feeling truly alive.

This handbook supports the work done by One in Four and all who work in this field. Its aim is to help survivors outside counselling sessions to cope and control the pace and direction of their healing. Family and friends, as well as counsellors will also find this a useful resource to understand the difficulties faced by survivors and the process of recovery.

ISBN 978-0-9566541-0-6
£6.99

AIDING RECOVERY FROM CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
From Protecting Children update issue 74 December 2010/January 2011
Jenni Whitehead reviews The Warrior Within: A One in Four handbook
to aid recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse and Violence
by Christiane Sanderson
This book aims to support survivors of childhood sexual abuse on their road to recovery. It offers a very comprehensive understanding of sexual abuse and the range of effects experienced by survivors. While the book is directed at the survivor it will provide the professional with the essential insights and understandings.

The book is in three parts.

• Understanding childhood sexual abuse as trauma
• Managing your reactions to trauma
• Rebuilding your life

The book usefully acknowledges that working through significant issues can cause or increase severe feelings of panic and each section is prefaced with an icon to indicate whether that section is a point to remember, a top tip, an exercise or activity or most importantly a warning.

The warning icons are designed to help the survivor check out how they feel and help them acknowledge that they are able to assess whether they are in a safe enough place, time and mood to continue reading or to complete the suggested exercises.

The first section offers a very clear understanding of the variety of ways that people react to trauma. One sub-section entitled “Your body’s alarm system” explains the way that trauma activates particular to real or perceived danger, sending signals to the body to prepare for fight, flight or freeze. This is one of the clearest explanations for this process that I have come across and will help survivors and professional understanding of triggered reactions.

Having worked with many survivors I know that the fight, flight or freeze reaction can trigger behaviour that looks bizarre and/or out of control and having an explanation can help the professional to respond appropriately to young people experiencing intense feelings.
The first section also explains hyper-vigilance, flashbacks, intrusive imagery, panic attacks and dissociation in an easy to understand way using straightforward jargon-free language. The explanation of how sexual abuse can affect brain development is useful reading for any professional working with a survivor and will help teachers to understand some of the behaviours that a survivor might present in class.

Managing Reactions
The second section aims to help the survivor find ways of managing their reactions to trauma both physically and mentally. This section aims to help the survivor regain control and offers a range of suggestions and exercises that build on the understanding given in the first section. Safety issues are examined throughout this part of the book, for instance physical exercise is discussed as one way of beginning to take control over one’s body; however, the warning is given that for some survivors too much exercise and the resulting bodily reactions (increased heart rate and perspiration) can mimic the feelings experienced during sexual abuse and trigger inappropriate reactions (very useful information for sports teachers)

In this way the book aims to help survivors to find their own pace for working through their issues. This type of understanding is extremely useful to professionals working with survivors and will help them to recognise when a young person is experiencing a difficult moment.

Likewise the sections on understanding how to reground yourself will also be useful to professionals coping with a young person in the midst of a panic attack or flashback. Seeing a child or young person experiencing panic attacks can be very frightening to staff who do not understand what is happening or how to support them through it and can cause people to overreact, making the situation worse.

The Third part of the book offers advice and understanding on how to maintain the changes achieved by working through issues discussed in the first two sections. This section covers a really difficult part of the road to recovery and deals with issues like trusting one’s own feelings, rebuilding relationships and preventing relapse.

At what point a person reaches this section is impossible to predict and the author makes it clear that recovery may mean taking one step forward and then having to stand still a while before taking the next step, or having to go back a number of times before being able to say “I am ready to move on”. The third section is there for when the survivor is ready to read it.

The book is written specifically for survivors, but teachers, learning mentors, educational psychologists, school counsellors and social workers will find it a very useful addition to their library.

I would recommend this book to anyone coping with the effects of sexual abuse either as a person who has experienced abuse or as a person supporting a survivor of abuse.

A Bloggers Experience

"..............Upon digging in and using it for a few months now I can honestly say that this handbook has been the best tool I've ever used in my healing journey. It's now front and center in my toolbox. I personally believe that a copy of this book should be in the hands of every survivor working to overcome abuse and trauma. I also believe "The Warrior Within" would be a great help to family and close friends of survivors who are seeking ways to support their loved ones as they heal......"

To read the US based full review click here


You can order a copy by visiting One in Four website at http://oneinfour.org.uk click here

One in Four offers advice to and support for people who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual violence. Research has consistently shown that one in four children will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. Society has thus far been unwilling to face up to the seep-rooted nature of this problem or the sheer scale of the long term damage it leaves in its wake. One in Four’s determined aim is to change this. One in Four is an organisation run for and by people who have experience of sexual abuse. It exists to give voice to the experience of people who have been sexually abused and provide a space which, by its very existence challenges feelings of shame and self-blame.


Books & Reviews. The Spirit Within

The Spirit Within - A One in Four Handbook to aid recovery from religious sexual abuse across all faiths

Published - October 2011

This book aims to give survivors of religious sexual abuse across all faiths an opportunity to make sense of their experiences by identifying the impact and long term effects of religious sexual abuse. It will provide help in understanding how such abuse has affected their life and how they can begin to make changes. It will provide practical support to manage the symptoms of religious sexual abuse so that they can feel more in control of their lives to make more positive choices, reconnect to others and undo the legacy of their abuse. It also includes guidelines for how counsellors can work with survivors and offer advice to friends and family who support those who have been abused, along with a list of organisations, books and films that can support survivors.

To read more about One in Four UK services just click here

Review on Amazon - by E R Taylor (UK) (real name)

This review is from: The Spirit Within: A One in Four Handbook to Aid Recovery from Religious Sexual Abuse Across All Faiths (Paperback)
At last - here is an admirably clear and helpful book about Religious Sexual Abuse. The crime of RSA is only now emerging from a shadow-land of denial and cover-ups, and this book will fill an unmet need for all those affected. As well as being of value to victims and survivors of abuse, and those concerned for them, it should be in every library and on every counsellor's bookshelf. The author, Christiane Sanderson, is an authority in this controversial field, and her years of therapeutic practice have enabled her to provide a unique blend of warm and supportive information for those who have been abused. Also, as a respected academic, while not vilifying any specific perpetrators she provides well-researched evidence of RSA's shameful history of the individual and institutional abuse of power in religious settings. The Spirit Within is beautifully produced, with an extensive list of sources of help. User-friendly colour-coding and logos summarise important points and also refer the reader to the earlier sister volume The Warrior Within.

To see other E R Taylor reviews of Christiane Sanderson's work click here

Father Tom Doyle - Author and Advocate for victims of Religious Sexual Abuse.

"My only recommendation this time around is THE SPIRIT WITHIN by Christiane Sanderson from One in Four in London. To my knowledge its the only book devoted only to recovery from religious sexual abuse……and it is a fantastic contribution."


To watch a brief YouTube clip about Christiane Sanderson's books The Warrior Within and The Spirit Within and the charity One in Four UK please click here