Another scholarly research article - published in the Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology (Reed, et al., 2006) weighs in on treatment strategies for spousal psychological abuse. The authors assert that presently there is a dearth of empirical evidence backing up the effectiveness for any existing treatments for the trauma a woman experiences when psychologically abused by her spouse or significant other. That said, the article suggests that "forgiveness therapy" (FT) is a "promising new area" (920) of treatment for this particular form of PTSD. The authors emphasize, however, that forgiveness therapy cannot be confused with "pardoning, forgetting...condoning or excusing" the wrongdoing that led to PTSD. The key concept in presenting FT is to have the woman examine "the injustice of the abuse," then give consideration to forgiveness as one possible option, and through compassion, make a choice to forgive or not to forgive. When a woman embraces FT, it certainly would be in sync with Christian values.
Finally, a recent article published in Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training (Heckman, et al., 2007), presents a...
There are over 2 million people in U.S. prisons - 93% of them male and 100,000 juveniles - and of those inmates, some 21% of males are victims of PTSD, 48% of females prisoners are PTSD victims, and up
PTSD - Dynamics & Treatments to 65% of juveniles suffer due to PTSD. The authors believe that "cognitive treatments" (such as relaxation training, psycho education, art therapy, anger management) deserve more study. Also worthy of more research are "exposure and desensitization" treatments (clients simultaneously focus on traumatic material and an "external stimulus using saccadic eye movements of alternating bilateral stimulation"). Among the offshoots of exposure and desensitization treatments - seemingly effective in a correctional institution setting - is "traumatic incident reduction" (TIR); this entails the PTSD survivor / victim being exposed to repetitive "guided imagery" of the event that originally caused the trauma. Seeing that event over and over can reduce the depression, anxiety, avoidance and intrusive thoughts that are…
