Severe Childhood Sexual Abuse and Nonverbal Learning Disability

Treating clients with a history of severe childhood abuse and neurocognitive vulnerabilities poses many challenges for the practicing clinician. At the heart of the challenge is understanding how clients learn, and the extent to which a joint narrative can be woven to help clients make sense out of their chaotic and painful experiences. This paper will focus on the treatment of a young adult with a history of severe childhood abuse, dissociative symptoms, and right-hemisphere dysfunction, or nonverbal learning disabilities. Conundrums, reflections, and implications of the treatment are described.