Spousal Psychological Abuse

Summary

Abuse takes on various forms ranging from physical, mental, emotional, and neglect. Abuse is not limited to one particular group culture, but happens to people from all walks of life. Women are often the victims of abuse especially when dealing with spousal or intimate partner valance. Each year, increasingly more women have been reported to be victims of some form of spousal or intimate partner violence. Generally in a relationships abuse being to happen, the abuse begins to forms or a combination of the two. Physical violence or abuse is the first form in which actual violence takes place in the mental abuse. In this form of abuse actual violence does not occur, but the abuser is the demander or belittles the victim, causing the victim to feel worthless; other abusers combine the two forms. The emotional or mental abuse is by far the worst. According to Reed and Enright (2006) “Spousal psychological abuse represents a painful betrayal of trust leading to serious negative psychological outcomes for the abused partner,” (R. The main purpose of spousal or intimate partner abuse, contrary to popular belief, is to inflict emotional pain, not physical pain. There are several categories of spousal psychological abuse; criticizing ridiculing, jealous control, purposeful ignoring, threats of abandonment, threats of harm, and damage to personal property spousal abuse produces a more negative emotional affect when compare to physical abuse. The negative physiological affects produce depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Interaction

I work in the mental health field and work with women who have been emotional and physically abused by their spouse. Majority of the women I work with ha...

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...ust first realize the effects of abuse on the client’s life and their personal adjustment to normal and healthy relationships. When issues and concerns are not addressed a client usually shows difficulty maintaining positive social interaction. Due to the catastrophic results of traumatic and abusive relations clients are unable to trust or may become enthralled by abusive relationships moving from one relationship to the next with unrealistic expectations. Conducting psychological test on clients can aid in the appropriate treatment for clients whom may have suffered abuse over an extensive period of time.

Reference

Enright, R.D., & Reed, G. L. (2006). The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress for Women After Spousal Emotional Abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(5), 920-929.