Articles

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) causes severe harm to the self, halts its development and fractures it. Some of these harmful effects are caused by the interaction between the physical domain, where the abuse occurs, and the self; however, the physical is often neglected in the theoretical and clinical treatment of CSA. In this article we wish to introduce the Yoga/Psychotherapy treatment framework, a combined psychoanalytical/physical approach which, we will argue, constitutes what Bacal defined as an “optimal response” for women who were sexually abused in childhood.