ABSTRACT
Resilience is often defined by an individual’s ability to bounce back. This concept has become an important social construct. Due to specific dynamics of child sexual abuse, resiliency is often difficult to measure. Definitions of “resilience” often fail to address the biological impacts of trauma, as well as the adaptive mechanisms related to trauma inherent in human beings. Utilizing a case of a teenager who was sexually abused from the ages of 5 to 12, this case study explores topics of cutting, covering, and other self-injurious behaviors related to trauma and resilience. A reconceptualization of resilience impacts clinical intervention.
