Personal reactions to sexual assault disclosures made by female clients diagnosed with serious mental illness

Abstract

Purpose

Mental health practitioners working with female clients diagnosed with a serious mental illness (SMI) often face client disclosures of sexual assault. Research has shown that practitioners’ responses can be complicated by the diagnosis and lack of professional training; however, less is known about the role their personal factors may play. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to further understanding of practitioners’ personal reactions and investigate how these reactions affect their professional response.

Design/methodology/approach

Nine mental health practitioners participated in face-to-face interviews, in which they were asked to describe their personal reactions when faced with a disclosure and to discuss how these reactions influence client assessment, treatment and referral.

Findings

The study results show that lacking training, practitioners expressed feelings of uncertainty, fear and worry about how best to respond without causing further harm. Findings serve to inform future training to support practitioners and, as a result, improve care and treatment for this population.

Originality/value

This study is unique because it explores the personal reactions mental health practitioners’ experience when responding to disclosures of sexual assault among women diagnosed with an SMI and how these reactions may impact their professional response.

Citation

Strauss Swanson, C. and Schroepfer, T. (2018), "Personal reactions to sexual assault disclosures made by female clients diagnosed with serious mental illness", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 248-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-10-2017-0057