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How Does Individual Counseling Affect Battered Women?

The mental health field has identified women who are victims of intimate-partner violence by their display of psychological symptoms and signs. Physically and mentally abused women often display battered woman syndrome (BSW), a type of post-traumatic stress disorder. The condition makes it difficult for women to acknowledge the severity of their situation, seek help and gain control of their lives. Health care and law enforcement professionals, family, friends and community agencies can provide support and resources for women with BSW, including individual counseling or therapy.

  1. Significance

    • An estimated 1 to 2 million women in the United States are beaten by their husbands each year. Women of all socioeconomic levels can fall victim to the mental or physical abuse that leads to BSW. One half to 75 percent of all assaults against women are committed by their partners. Men who grew up in homes where their mother's were battered are more likely to abuse their own wives, according to Mosby's Medical Dictionary.

    Identification

    • Treatment that addresses symptoms of BSW is critical. These symptoms include intrusive recollections of traumatic events, high levels of anxiety, avoidance and emotional numbing, disruptive interpersonal relationships, body image distortion or complaints and sexual intimacy issues, according to a July 7, 2009, article in Psychiatric Times. Individual therapy or group therapy rather than couples therapy is recommended, at least initially, according to the article.

    Safety

    • One of the first steps to helping a battered woman recover is to interview her one-on-one. Without the presence of the abusive partner, the health care professional, social worker, psychiatric professional or equally qualified individual can help her form a safety plan because the abuser is not immediately present and able to intimidate or influence her responses. Even in the man's absence, it is common for her to feel as though he is the room with her.

    Confidentiality

    • It's important for the clinician to establish boundaries between themselves and the battered woman, to help her feel safe. This involves asking her for permission to touch her, write notes about her responses, and ask her personal questions. Individual counseling entails a position of privilege where information is confidential. Within it, it must be clear to the battered woman that she will not be taken advantage of.

    Validation

    • Individual counseling should emphasize the woman's strengths, which will help her trust herself and others again, according to the article in Psychiatric Times. In addition, naming her condition as BSW might help her accept that there is nothing abnormal about her. Education about her condition and the impact of abuse will also help her. Emphasis on what she did to protect herself from the abuser and letting her know she is not at fault, will help validate her and create a rapport that empowers her to tell her story.

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