Touching the Heart and Soul of Therapy

Abstract

SUMMARY This is an account of the suicide of a young woman who had been raped at the age of thirteen, by five boys. Personal and professional implications will be discussed, including the experience of grief and trauma, the impact on work life and confidence, and the challenge to one's values and beliefs. The need for information about and support through legal processes will be explored. The medico-legal assumption that life is to be protected at all costs is examined. The importance for all to identify, understand and review our deepest values about life and death with clients and colleagues is asserted.