‘How can You Do This Work?’ Responding to Questions about the Experience of Working with Women Who Were Subjected to Child Sexual Abuse— Sue Mann

This paper explores ways of understanding the experience of therapists who work in the field of child sexual abuse. The author describes how she is regularly asked by women who consult her, ‘How can you do this work?’ The first section of this paper explores the different meanings that this question can have for those women who ask it of their therapist. The second section considers the many different experiences that the author has in counselling conversations with women who have been subjected to child sexual abuse. The final section particularly focuses on those experiences of therapist distress that sometimes accompany this sort of work. A range of questions are provided in the hope that these will be helpful to other therapists.