ABSTRACT
In the third phase, which overlapped the termination phase, the traumatic experience not only was discussed but was enacted in the therapeutic relation. The feelings of safety that had been established in the previous phase allowed the girls to begin to talk about the sexual traumas they had suffered. Talking, in turn, led to their enacting different aspects of these traumas. The residue of these traumatic experiences created a confusion between the safety and tenderness of the previous phase and the unsettling and disturbing feelings of passion. We engaged in a dance in which the girls demonstrated their confusion verbally and nonverbally. The girls essentially were saying, "We are confused by you— do we feel tenderness or passion?" and I questioned myself about my feelings toward the girls: "I am confused by you—is my tenderness passionate?"
