Sexual Abuse, the Therapeutic Alliance, and Therapist Self-Disclosure

This case study concerns the challenges of a young man coming to terms with sexual abuse and how therapist self-disclosure assisted in redefining the masculine narrative toward the construction of a post-traumatic male identity. Here, I focus on the central importance of human relationships in therapy and ways to challenge the dominant cultural discourse within the therapy room. The social construction of identity emerges as a central theme of social work practice.