Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T11:03:42.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Therapeutically Supporting Children to Recover from the Impact of Family Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2017

Olivia Powell  and
Kathy Morrison
Olivia Powell*
Affiliation:
MAPS MCCLP, Family Violence Counselling and Support Service, Tasmania, Australia
Kathy Morrison
Affiliation:
MAPS, New South Wales, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Olivia Powell, Clinical PsychologistMAPS MCCLP, Family Violence Counselling and Support Service, Tasmania, Australia. E-mail: Olivia.Powell@dhhs.tas.gov.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Family violence (also referred to as Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence) describes violence that occurs within an intimate relationship, whether a current or former partner. Children can experience a range of abuses (emotional, physical, sexual and neglect) within the context of family violence, and harm is cumulative and may present as complex trauma. This paper is based on a practice presentation delivered at the International Childhood Trauma Conference in Melbourne (Australia) in June 2016. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the impacts for children who have experienced family violence, to enhance understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to their trauma presentation, and to highlight the specific practice issues and considerations in providing therapeutic support to this client population, with the ultimate aim of improving diagnostic and treatment outcomes for children impacted by family violence. Sufficient safety and stability are required for children to experience therapeutic change, and if family violence is current, the initial response needs to be protective. Identification of family violence should prompt practitioners to use trauma-informed assessment and trauma-focused evidence-based treatments within a family therapy and systems framework. Family violence is complex and there are many barriers to treatment and practice considerations. Expansion of practitioner knowledge and skills in family violence trauma will enhance outcomes for children who have experienced family violence.

Keywords

Family violencedomestic violenceintimate partner violencechildrentrauma
Type
PART A: Part II of 2016 International Childhood Trauma Conference
Information
Children Australia , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 137 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistics manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Anda, R., Felitti, V., Bremmer, J., Walker, J., Whitfield, C., Perry, B., Giles, W. (2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood: A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256 (3), 174–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006, 2012). Personal safety survey. Canberra: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Childhood Foundation (2010). Making SPACE for learning: Trauma informed practice in schools. Retrieved from http://www.childhood.org.au/for-professionals/resources Google Scholar
Australian Psychological Society (2013). Evidence-based and quality information for psychologists: Posttraumatic stress disorder. Retrieved from http://eqip.psychology.org.au/conditions/PTSD/ Google Scholar
Bogat, G., Levendosky, A., von Eye, A., & Davidson, W. (2011). Effects of intimate partner violence on the attachment relationship between mother and child: Data from a longitudinal study beginning during pregnancy. In Graham-Bearman, S. & Levendosky, A. (Eds.), How intimate partner violence affects children (pp. 19–46). US: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child's tie to his mother. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 39 (Sept–Oct), 350–373.Google ScholarPubMed
Buchanan, F. (2008). Mother and infant attachment theory and domestic violence: Crossing the divide (Stakeholder Paper 5). Sydney: Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse.Google Scholar
Bunston, W., Pavlidis, T., & Cartwright, P. (2016). Children, family violence and group work: Some do's and don'ts in running therapeutic groups with children affected by family violence. Journal of Family Violence, 31, 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campo, M. (2015). Children's exposure to domestic and family violence: Key issues and Responses (CFCA Paper No. 36). Melbourne: Child Family Community Australia information exchange, Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/childrens-exposure-domestic-and-family-violence Google Scholar
Gomez, A. (2012). EMDR therapy and adjunct approaches with children: Complex trauma, attachment, and dissociation. New York: Springer Publishing Company.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovett, J. (2015). Trauma – attachment: Modifying EMDR to help children resolve trauma and develop loving relationships. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mitchell, M. (2015). “All I want is a life free from violence” – The impact of family and domestic violence on children. In Children's Rights Report (pp. 96–167). Australian Human Rights Commission.Google Scholar
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Perry, B. (1997). Incubated in terror: Neurodevelopmental factors in the ‘Cycle of Violence’. In Osofsky, J. (Ed.), Children, youth and violence: The search for solutions (pp. 124–148). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Perry, B. (1999). Bonding and attachment in maltreated children: Consequence of emotional neglect in childhood. Child Trauma Academy Press Parent and Caregiver Education Series, 1 (3). Retrieved from http://childtrauma.org/cta-library/abuse-neglect Google Scholar
Perry, B. (2001). The neurodevelopmental impact of violence in childhood. In Schetky, D. & Benedek, E. (Eds.), Textbook of child and adolescent forensic psychiatry (pp. 221–238). Washington: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Perry, B. (2008). Child maltreatment: A neurodevelopmental perspective on the role of trauma and neglect in psychopathology. In Beauchaine, T. & Hinshaw, S. (Eds.), Child and adolescent psychopathology (pp. 93–129). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. (2013 ). Australian guidelines for the treatment of acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Melbourne, Victoria: Phoenix Australia (ACPMH).Google Scholar
Powell, O. & Morrison, K. (2015). Psychological intervention for children and young people who have experienced family violence. InPsych, 37 (5), 16–17.Google Scholar
Putnam, F. (1996). Child development and dissociation. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 5 (2), 285–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saxe, E., Ellis, B., & Kaplow, J. (2007). Collaborative treatment of traumatized children and teens: The trauma systems therapy approach. New York: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Siegel (1999). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. New York: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
van der Kolk, B. (2005). Developmental trauma disorder: Toward a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric Annals, 35 (5), 401–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma. Great Britain: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
Wesselmann, D., Schweitzer, C., & Armstrong, S. (2014). Integrative team treatment for attachment trauma in children. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, Inc.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/ Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (2016). Violence against women: Intimate partner and sexual violence against women. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/ Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar