Abstract

Internationally, there is relevant research about the efficacy of the psychological treatment of children and adolescents who have suffered sexual abuse. However, the specific clinical techniques and strategies related to change in these treatments still need to be researched. In Chile, clinical or technical guidelines available to professionals in community care centres are vague, which are insufficient and offer no specific procedures or interventions that should be performed in these psychotherapies, regardless of the international evidence. This leads to inconsistencies between the different psychological treatments offered to these children. Little is known about the interventions that children who have been sexually assaulted receive in community mental health treatments and whether these interventions have positive outcomes. This research aims to identify and characterize the clinical strategies used by therapists in the psychological treatments of children who have experienced sexual abuse in community settings in Chile. Q-Methodology will be used. The sample will include three psychotherapeutic processes, where a total of 30 sessions will be rated using the Child Psychotherapy Q-Set, to identify clinical strategies and the therapeutic process. We expect to find which are the most frequently used strategies in natural settings and how these strategies change according to the stage of the therapy process (beginning, middle and end). Knowing the effective clinical strategies used by psychotherapists will contribute to identifying specific elements relevant to effectively achieving therapeutic changes and, thus, promote the future development of more precise and complete guidelines and recommendations for psychological intervention in community settings with these children.