Nhung Nguyen

As I am always interested in healing therapy, I was caught by the video title “The Abused Woman: A Survivor Therapy Approach.” At first, I found it somehow related to one of the PSYC 821, which is Domestic Violence. The video, a documentary film, turns out to be a sufficient source of information on therapy for women who suffered from domestic violence.

The two main characters of this are Dr. Lenore Walker and Sara. Dr. Lenore Walker has worked with physically, psychologically, and sexually abused women for more than 30 years. She has developed an approach to their treatment called Survivor Therapy. Sarah is a 36-year-old battered woman with a history of childhood sexual abuse.

The documentary conveys Dr. Walker and Sara’s two-year therapy practices using the approach called Survivor Therapy. This therapy integrates principles and techniques from feminism and trauma therapies. The therapy allows addressing changes of the abused women in terms of effect, cognition, and behavior. The two main goals of the therapy are to help those victims to become safe and re-establish a sense of personal power.

During several sessions, Dr. Walker was gradually gaining trust from Sara and helping her see her battered life and marriages from a different perspective. From self-blaming to empowerment was a long and emotional journey for Sara. She has also experienced the typical vicious circle of hoping – doubting – hesitating – disappointing about her husband’s violent behaviors. After being arm broken by her husband- Dan- Sara decides to separate and divorce her abusive spouse. Sara was also dianogsed with PTSD- Batter women symtom. However, together with identifying the core issues of her marriage – her husband’s inner struggle that made him act violently- and trying to regain her life by getting better in career and education.

There are three main requirements for the therapists in practicing this approach (1) being able to identify the level of emotion and emotion changes in the victims- lethality assessment, (2) negotiating mutually about the goals, and (3) supporting the victims while remaining the necessary barrier with their patients/clients in urgent situations.

This documentary is highly related to the course PSYC 821 since violence against women is still very common. The documentary indicated that research has pointed out roughly 50% of women in the States are abused at some point during their life. Furthermore, aside from raising awareness about such forms of violence, it is necessary to mention different support approaches to help the victims to get out of the abusive relationship and regain their life and dignity. Even though the document was firmed in 2006, it is still very timely to talk about regarding the main topic of this course: violence against women and how to stop them.

Link: https://ku.kanopy.com/video/abused-woman-survivor-therapy-approach