Experience of family violence can have a profound impact on individuals’ psychological conditions. Family violence often includes domestic or psychological violence between partners or between parents and children. Applying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can alleviate the mental health struggles of people who have experienced traumatic family aggression. Specifically, CBT techniques such as cognitive restructuring, exposure therapy, journaling and thought records can help patients rehabilitate from stressful events.
CBT is a crucial part of preventing family aggression or rehabilitating from experience. The central principle of CBT is that individuals’ thought patterns, including dysfunctional beliefs, meanings, and memories, can influence their emotions and affect their behaviours (Nesset et al., 2019). Thus, the first step to address the experience of family violence is applying a cognifitive restructuring method. This method focuses on encouraging patients to analyze and understand their negative thought patterns.
Both aggressor and the victim can use this technique. For instance, initiators of aggression can emphasize overly negative thoughts in jealousy and hence, domestic violence. For victims, this CBT technique can help identify and challenge past family violence’s effect on their future destructive thoughts. Thus, understanding irrational, negative thoughts through cognitive restructuring are the first crucial step towards addressing family violence.
Secondly, exposure therapy can help patients confront fears and anxieties formed after experiencing traumatic family aggression. Specifically, this process entails therapists gradually exposing patients to the things that are associated with past events. Systematic exposure to the fears and anxieties related to past family violence can help individuals overcome irrationalities and destructive memories. Studies have identified the positive effect of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) on children and adolescents who have been exposed to violence within a family (Peltonen & Kangaslampi, 2019). Thus, therapists can apply this method to help patients be less vulnerable to negative thoughts and become more confident in their coping abilities.
CBT is one of the most prevalent and effective coping methods with mental health issues, including preventing and overcoming family violence. Cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy can alleviate the negative thoughts and memories caused by previous family aggression. Nevertheless, other CBT techniques should also be explored and applied to help patients exposed to family violence.
References
Nesset, M. B., Lara-Cabrera, M. L., Dalsbø, T. K., Pedersen, S. A., Bjørngaard, J. H., & Palmstierna, T. (2019). Cognitive behavioural group therapy for male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 19(1). Web.
Peltonen, K., & Kangaslampi, S. (2019). Treating children and adolescents with multiple traumas: A randomized clinical trial of narrative exposure therapy. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1558708. Web.