Attachment and Coping with Sexual Assault ATTACHMENT AND WOMEN’S COPING WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT by BECKY STEWART A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES GRADUATE COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard ………………………………………………………………… José F. Domene, Ph.D., Thesis Supervisor & Coordinator ………………………………………………………………. Richard Bradshaw, Ph.D. Thesis Co-supervisor ……………………………………………………………… Sinead McGilloway, Ph.D., External Examiner TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY September 2007 © Becky Stewart Attachment and Coping with Sexual Assault ii ABSTRACT In this study, the Listening Guide method (Brown & Gilligan, 1992) was used to explore experiences of PTSD and coping in a sample of 33 female survivors of sexual assault. The women were involved in two sets of interviews: the first exploring their experiences using four general questions; the second using individualized follow-up questions derived from analyses of their first interviews. Through analysis of the data, overall themes in the women’s post-assault experiences were first identified, including differences in emotional responses and reactivity. Overall, the women experienced shifts in how they viewed themselves, others, and their relationships in many ways. Prominent themes that emerged from the initial analyses included issues with support, increased distrust, and avoidance. Additionally, the potential connections between attachment style and coping were explored by conducting and examining a second Listening Guide analysis, after categorizing the women into their dominant attachment styles. Although this second analysis yielded no new themes, it did reveal a number of variations in women’s experiences that appeared to be associated with their attachment styles. For example, substance abuse was a common coping strategy, but the underlying motivations behind this behaviour seemed to be different for women with different attachment styles. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the need to provide appropriate supports, and the usefulness of considering attachment style when developing treatment plans for women who have suffered sexual assaults. Attachment and Coping with Sexual Assault iii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................iii Interviewer: So not feeling safe around men. ................................................................... 53 Although by far the most common trauma trigger that the women described was interactions with males, other prominent triggers that repeatedly emerged included crowds or crowded places, the media (e.g., movies, television, books), and the anniversary or season in which the assault itself took place—some women reporting few PTSD symptoms until that particular time of year. .......................................................... 55 More interview excerpts reflecting the women’s descriptions of having emotional reactions triggered by interactions with males and other phenomena can be found in Appendix H. While the women experienced an overall increase in negative emotions, especially anxiety, interpersonal interactions seemed to cause the greatest distress by triggering negative emotional responses........................................................................... 56 Theme 2: Changes in Aspects of the Self .......................................................................... 56 Sub-theme C: Self-damaging behaviour. Along with an increased self-doubt and a decrease in self-esteem, several of the women disclosed behaviours that they perceived as limiting or self-damaging, especially in comparison to how they had functioned pre- assault. The following is one woman’s example of how she engaged in disordered eating in order to protect herself against further harm: ............................................................... 59 Interviewer: So is that fear, then?..................................................................................... 68 Interviewer: So you’re feeling protective of them?........................................................... 72 Participant: Yeah, yes. {laughs}[Teena] ........................................................................... 72 For at least some of the participants, being assaulted has not only shifted their worldview perspectives to become more aware of the vulnerability of young women in society, but also causes them feel more concerned (“I wonder if they’re safe or not”) and protective when around other vulnerable women.............................................................................. 72 Attachment and Coping with Sexual Assault iv In this chapter, I have described the findings that emerged from the four listenings of the participants’ descriptions of their experiences of life after being sexually assaulted. The findings that emerged included drastic differences in how the women experienced themselves and others in relationships. While the women noted differences in their emotional reactivity and feelings of self-worth, such experiences tended to further cultivate their sense of vulnerability and risk in social interactions, resulting in isolative tendencies and changes in interpersonal boundaries. Overall, it became evident that the experience of living with PTSD as a result of sexual trauma had drastic and long-lasting impact on the women’s interpersonal relationships, perceptions of themselves, and responses in their everyday lives—little, seemingly innocuous occurrences could become overwhelming, devastating, and debilitating. Fortunately, the women have also found many ways to cope in their post-assault lives. These different ways of coping are described in the following chapter.................................................................................... 72 In this chapter, I describe the findings related to the second research question: how the women have coped with their traumas, and the ways that their attachment styles may be linked to the various ways in which they cope (please see Appendix F for a summary chart of attachment styles and themes). Due to the sheer volume of themes, and data from which the themes were derived, the quotations and examples provided in the chapter and accompanying Appendix H are illustrative, not exhaustive. Many different kinds of themes emerged, as the women described their coping experiences. To facilitate understanding of these findings, they have been organized using the categories provided by Skinner et al.’s (2003) Families of Coping. These categories were derived from a meta-analysis of existing literature on coping, and are considered to be the highest, broadest levels of coping within a hierarchical structure. These “families” consist of the following nine categories: problem-solving, support seeking, avoidance, distraction, positive cognitive restructuring, rumination, helplessness, social withdrawal and emotional regulation. ........................................................................................................ 74 Interviewer: And what does it usually take for someone to be safe?................................ 84 Attachment and Coping with Sexual Assault v In the first example, the woman describes how her relationship with her dogs became this source for her: ................................................................................................................... 87 Interviewer: So it’s almost, yeah, but it seems like there’s almost a fear of being seen... 92 Interviewer: It’s a lot of protecting your zone – ............................................................... 94 Interviewer: It’s really evident.......................................................................................... 94 i. Blanking/zoning out. Trauma researcher Judith Herman (1992) wrote that, both during and following a traumatic event, “perceptions may be numbed or distorted … time sense may be altered, often with a sense of slow motion, and the experience may lose its quality of ordinary reality” (p. 43). Several of the women who were interviewed described experiencing alterations in their sense of both time and awareness. ................................ 98 Interviewer: So it’s almost like a complete numbing........................................................ 99 Participant: Yeah, .............................................................................................................. 99 Interviewer: like you can just shut everything down......................................................... 99 ii. Lack of awareness of feelings. For some of the women, dissociation emerged as a theme not only in terms of blocked memory or feeling numb and blank; it was also displayed in the women feeling out of touch with their emotions, even when they didn’t intentionally ‘avoid’ emotions. As one participant described it: .................................... 100 Interviewer: Have you felt much anger in that way before?........................................... 107 Interviewer: Sounds like you almost startled yourself. ................................................... 108 Interviewer: Since that came up how have you been feeling? ........................................ 108 Theme 6: Distrust of Others............................................................................................ 125 Social withdrawal was found by Skinner et al. (2003) to