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Counseling Techniques for Women of Domestic Violence

Mental health and other health professionals frequently encounter women who have experienced domestic violence. United Nations Women reports that one in three women worldwide has been subjected to violence of one form or another. Domestic violence is a major cause of disabilities among women, including psychiatric disabilities like substance abuse, depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Working with informed, compassionate counselors can empower women who suffer the effects of domestic violence.

  1. Targeted Diagnosis and Screening

    • Some women go directly to agencies that specialize in domestic violence services, or name domestic violence as their presenting problem when they visit some other provider. Many others, however, will not bring up domestic violence unless the provider takes the initiative and directly addresses it in a safe, nonjudgmental way. Whatever the case may be, effective counseling begins with proper, thorough diagnosis and screening. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected and assessed some widely used domestic violence screening instruments.

    Attention to Reproductive Coercion

    • Reproductive coercion includes sexual assault, deliberate sabotage of a woman's contraceptive use, pressure to abort and battery beginning or escalating during pregnancy. Counselors need to integrate assessment for reproductive coercion into domestic violence screenings. The kNOw MORE Campaign offers resources on this critical threat to the health of women and babies.

    Crisis Intervention

    • Skilled crisis counselors can offer battered women a safe place to ventilate intense emotions and deal constructively with any risks of suicide or homicide. Counselors can help their clients connect with community resources like shelters, food pantries and law enforcement. Another vital function of crisis counseling is to assist domestic violence victims with the creation of safety plans for themselves, as well as any children or companion animals they may have.

    Longer Term Individual and Family Therapy

    • Battered women and their families often benefit from longer term treatment, particularly a combination of individual and family therapy. The counselor will need to think carefully about whether or not to include the abusive partner in the treatment, as this can be counterproductive and even unsafe, depending on the situation. However, in general it is advisable and constructive to include mothers and children in the same course of therapy.

    Group Therapy

    • Dr. Sandra Kaplan, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Family Violence and Sexual Abuse, notes that group therapy can help battered women overcome the "social isolation" and "immobilization [by].. terror" that they often suffer. They can learn from one another and the counselor leading the group about developing skills necessary to heal and avoid further violence.

    Self-Help

    • Counselors can offer self-help resources to their domestic violence survivor clients, such as pamphlets, films, books and referrals to legal assistance or peer-led support groups. One example of a potentially beneficial resource is Lundy Bancroft's book "Why Does He Do That?" Bancroft offers practical guidance for women at a quandary over how to deal with their abusers' efforts to manipulate and dominate them.

    Community Outreach and Advocacy

    • Although they are not counseling techniques as generally understood, community outreach and advocacy are powerful and necessary therapeutic interventions in domestic violence. Potentially lifesaving actions can result from community education about the signs and patterns of domestic violence.

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