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What Are the Treatments for Battered Women?

Counselors who work with battered women on a regular basis find that there is no specific treatment for any one person. A combination of several types of therapy may be necessary to help a battered woman successfully through treatment. Battered women struggle with self-confidence, ongoing abuse and concern for themselves and their children. It is the counselor's job to understand these concerns.

  1. Stages of Change Treatment

    • This model of treatment helps the woman work through the five stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. The result of successfully working through the stages of change with a battered woman is the termination of the abusive situation and continuing maintenance of the new empowered woman.

    Cognitive Behavioral Treatment

    • Combining behavioral actions with cognitive thought processes is the key to this model of treatment for battered women. The therapist helps the battered woman to see cognitive thought processes which are causing harm to her life and self-esteem. Through behavioral homework and group sessions, the battered woman addresses her current or past battering situation. Group sessions are especially useful for battered women because of the peer relationships which are formed. The ability to identify with women who have successfully gone through a similar situation is useful to a battered woman going through treatment.

    PTSD Treatment

    • Even after leaving an abusive situation, many battered women will suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for months and even years after the abuse. Individual therapy sessions are used to identify the traumatic events causing the most disturbances. Increasing a patient's ability to trust herself is often used in this type of treatment. The battered woman often feels she is not capable of making good decisions for herself or her children. Some therapists will use hypnosis or rapid eye movement treatments to help women learn to relax and address the past abuse.

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