Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence: A Workbook for Women

by Mari McCaig MSW, Edward S. Kubany PhD, ABPP

Overview

Many women who free themselves from violent domestic situations experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) long after they achieve physical and emotional safety. A ringing telephone or a crowded city street threatens a potential encounter with their abuser. People they care for seem far away, and things they used to enjoy offer neither pleasure nor relief. Their long, sleepless nights drag on.

If you’ve freed yourself from an abusive relationship but still suffer from its effects, this program of trauma recovery techniques can help you take back your peace of mind. Based on a clinically proven set of techniques called cognitive trauma therapy (CTT), the exercises in this workbook will help you address feelings of guilt, anger, depression, anxiety, and stress. You'll learn how to break down the negative thoughts that might be cycling in your mind and how to replace them with positive, constructive affirmations. Later in the program, you'll be guided through controlled exposure to abuse reminders, which will enable you to face the fears you might otherwise spend a lifetime avoiding. The program begins and ends with techniques for becoming your own best advocate—an informed, confident person with all the strength you need to create the secure, fulfilling life you deserve.

•Recognize the effects of trauma on your life
•Let go of anger, stress, shame, and guilt
•Change core beliefs that can lead to involvement in abusive relationships
•Confront and overcome your fears
•Dispel feelings of helplessness
•Avoid future involvement with potential abusers

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572243699
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	08/15/2004
Series:	Workbook Series
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	1,049,656
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mari McCaig, MSCP, is a victim and witness counselor for the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney in Honolulu, HI. She provides counseling for people who have been involved in criminal cases.


Edward S. Kubany, PhD, was employed for fourteen years as a research clinical psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since 1990, he has specialized in the assessment and treatment of PTSD in his research and clinical practice. Kubany has more than twenty-five peer-reviewed publications, was principle investigator or co-principal investigator on four federal grants, and is first author of a self-help book for battered women, Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	v
	Introduction	1
Chapter 1	What Is PTSD and Do You Have It?	11
Chapter 2	Self-Advocacy: An Overview and Initial Self-Assessment	27
Chapter 3	Is Anger Worth the Hangover? Strategies for Letting Go	37
Chapter 4	Feel Better by Changing the Way You Talk to Yourself	43
Chapter 5	The Power of Nonnegative Thinking	51
Chapter 6	Managing Stress by Controlling Muscle Tension	65
Chapter 7	Why PTSD Persists and a Path to Your Recovery	79
Chapter 8	Overcoming the Attitude That You're Overwhelmed or Have No Power	87
Chapter 9	Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Guilt but Were Afraid to Ask	97
Chapter 10	How to Get Rid of Your Guilt	105
Chapter 11	"Supposed to" Beliefs That Lead Women to Stay or Go Back	139
Chapter 12	Assertiveness, Aggressiveness, and How to Take the High Road	149
Chapter 13	Managing Contacts with Former Partners	167
Chapter 14	Overcoming Fear by Exposure to Harmless Reminders	171
Chapter 15	How to Identify Potential Perpetrators	183
Chapter 16	Self-Advocacy Review: How Have You Changed?	195
	References	203