Sexually Abused Girls' Verbalizations in Counseling: An Application of the Client Behavior System

The Client Behavior System was used to evaluate the therapeutic process with 27 sexually abused girls enrolled in psychoeducationally based individual counseling. Based on ratings collected for the session in which the topic of sexual abuse was formally introduced, it was found that girls were more likely to provide abuse-related answers in response to questions pertaining to child sexual abuse, regardless of whether they were treated by a male or female counselor. These findings provide reason to reconsider previous recommendations that sexually abused girls are best treated by female counselors.