Rape Survivors: The Role Of Empathy In Counseling

248 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Empathy in a therapeutic relationship

One of the most important competencies counselors must consume when working with rape survivors is the use of empathy. Empathy can be expressed when a counselor is sensitive and mindful of a client’s thoughts, feelings, and struggles from their perspective (Trippany, Kress, & Wilcoxon, 2004). I believe it is critical to express empathy with trauma survivors in order for them to know they are not perceived as a defeated opponent, but as an individual with a unique perspective (Trippany et al., 2004). When a counselor expresses empathy towards a client, their therapeutic relationship and connection will grow over time (Trippany et al., 2004). Counselors who express empathy contribute to a client’s growth, creativity, learning, and healing experience

Show More
Related

  • Rape In College Essay

    1784 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a study done by The Journal of Clinical Psychology, “the primary reason for not reporting seemed to combine a type of guilt with embarrassment.” With the help of utilizing support groups, clubs, and other programs among college campuses that are designed to make the victim’s experience a little easier, the victims may not feel as embarrassed to come out and may feel safer in their decision to move forward with their case. One of the most notable effects of rape is the psychological impact that it has on the victim immediately as well as long-term. Many victims feel depression, anxiety, and other sudden onset mental illnesses as a result of their attack and can last for years post-attack. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence reported that in their study of 95 victims over a 12 week long period, “by 3 months post-crime 47% still met the full criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” This prolonged experience of emotional trauma can weaken the person’s overall mental wellbeing and cause the trauma to stick with them for the rest of their lives, especially if there are no support resources around them. As cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology study previously, the number one reason for not reporting is the feeling of embarrassment which causes the victims to not talk about their experience and to shut out those around

    Read More

  • The Rape Epidemic

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    The trauma of rape can lead to depression and can put victims in a horrible mental state of mind. Symptoms of depression can go unnoticed for long periods of time especially if the victims doesn’t speak out and tell someone. “Symptoms of depression are social withdrawnness, lack of interest in things the victim would normally enjoy, feelings of worthless unexplained irritability, and inability to sleep. After rape or sexual abuse, survivors often find their self-esteem suffers significantly”.(After silence. org) The way victims view themselves and others change significantly after being raped. They may lose their integrity and power to continue a balanced life.

    Read More

  • Modern-day Witch Hunts

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many counselors attribute their clients' woes to long-buried "repressed" memories of childhood sexual abuse. They help clients to unlock these, and rewrite their pasts. Clients sever all former ties with "families of origin" and surround themselves only with other "survivors", to prevent confirmation or denial.

    Read More

  • Power and Victimization in Rape Fantasies"

    1886 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of Canada's foremost contemporary writers, Margaret Atwood is an internationally renowned poet, literary critic, novelist, humanitarian and political activist. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1939, she spent most of her childhood in the Canadian wilderness. She has won praise and acclaim for her ability to incorporate humor, biting wit, irony and symbolism into her writing style. Her themes usually depict the very nature of human behavior and issues of power between men and women as it relates to society ("The Writer." New York Times). Her very first novel, The Edible Women, published in 1970, explored issues of oppression, self-identity and power, as it relates to the broader social content of contemporary urban life and the sexual politics involved. She further explores those issues in "Rape Fantasies" first published in Canada in 1979 in her book The Dancing Girls and Other Stories. "Rape Fantasies" has become one of Atwood's best known works as it explores the issues of power between men and women, highlighting women's fears of crime and victimization, where safety depends on the ability to find a medium between trust, suspicion, fear, and isolation ("I Just Don't Understand It." Gale).

    Read More

  • Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminist Know Analysis

    1862 Words  | 4 Pages

    Camille Paglia a thrilling humanities professor at Philadelphia University of the Arts. Known for her controversial books and essays wrote a selection for the New York News Day in 1991 titled, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminist Know (578). In this selection Pagila takes a stance on rape and who is really to blame for it. Paglia’s thesis, which states “ Feminism keeps saying the sexes are the same. It keeps telling women they can do anything, go anywhere, say anything, wear anything. No, they cant. Women will always be in danger” (579).

    Read More

  • The Social Construction of Rape

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.

    Read More

  • Motivational Interviewing

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...

    Read More

  • Rape: You Could Be the One in Six

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every two minutes someone in the world is being sexually assaulted or raped. In our generation, teenagers, use the words “ you’re raping me” to rough play with one another, the serious concept of rape is then minimized to light teasing; when in reality, rape physically and emotionally scars a person. There are ten different types of rape- sexual assault, child sexual abuse, drug facilitated assault, obsessive/ sadistic rape, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, stranger rape, and partner rape. There are many laws against rape but many rape cases are not reported one of the first Rape Crisis Centers were established in 1974 to help women and men in their communities. However, rape is not given enough importance in this society. This is a big issue for vulnerable children, women and men.

    Read More

  • What Is Essential in the Helping Relationship?

    2151 Words  | 5 Pages

    Carl R. Rogers theorized that through providing a certain kind of relationship with the client, one in which empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence were present, the client would “discover within himself the capacity to the relationship for growth, and change and personal development” . As a counselor empathy is essential as it allows me to enter my clients internal frame of reference, while still retaining a problem-solving stance. Entering the client’s internal frame of reference means I must consider the emotions and thoughts of the client, it is similarly vital not to get lost in the internal frame of reference as this creates the distinction between sympathy and empathy. Unconditional positive regard, also called acceptance is essential as it plays a role in creating a helping relationship in which the client feels safe to express any negative emotions or thoughts, while being...

    Read More

  • Rape and Sexual Violence

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")

    Read More

  • Rape And Rape

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Inertwined with rape myths, are subsequent rape scripts. As Ryan (2011) and Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard (2009) showed, depending what script is prevalent or dominant, reporting rates and overall acknowledgement can be greatly affected. Our understanding of what constitutes a rape or sexual assault needs to significantly change otherwise countless victims will remained silenced. If the understanding of these crimes was broadened, and the acquaintance scenarios taken more seriously, more victims would come forward, report, and get the help they may desperately need, in addition to aiding the legal system in punishing the offender and improve society’s population.

    Read More

  • Rape and Extending the Sentence for Rape

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a large amount of symptoms that come from rape, some may have a change in personality and friends and other may choose to drop out of school. Rape can have an effect on people that can harm them for life and for some victims in order for them to get over an attack is if they know that their attacker is incarcerated and w...

    Read More

  • The History Of Rape Culture

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our individual selves, if we didn’t have the weight of gender expectations. ( Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie )” Taking a step back, it is clear that rape culture is not a part of our society that will change anytime soon. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize the role that we play in institutionalizing rape. We have become blinded by the presence of sex in the media and there is a lack of awareness in terms of rape in our society. This, in turn, has led to a belief that most rape crimes are more or less victimless. As a society it is time to enact change, promote truly equal gender equality, and create an environment where the victims are free from shame and

    Read More

  • Marital Rape: An Underreported Crime with Long-term Effects

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    Per Martin, Taft, and Resick (2006), most women do not leave their abusive relationship immediately after the offense (Para. 8). Most women choose to seek help after noticing a change in the frequency and severity of sexual abuse, at the point where they felt the husband was going to hurt someone else or she was going to hurt him. Many women fear reporting marital rape and seeking help for a countless number of reasons. Martin, Taft, and Resick (2006) list some of those reasons as “fear of retaliation, helplessness, embarrassment, self-blame, and the belief that marital rape is not a serious problem (para. 8). Counseling is recommended for all rape victims. Per Mahoney & Williams (1998) “raped wives need different types of support than the battered only wife (Bowker, 1983) or the raped woman” (p27). The victims of wife rape need to address the incident itself as well as seek counseling for body issues, sexuality and physical abuse. Two methods of treatment have been suggested for marital rape victims; stress inoculation therapy and cognitive processing therapy. “Stress inoculation therapy (SIT) facilitates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral coping for fear. There are two phases in SIT. Phase one focuses on education and the identification of fears, and phase two teaches patients adaptive strategies for dealing with anxiety” (Martin, Taft, and Resick, 2006). The second method of treatment,

    Read More

  • Rape Case Study

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the social worker wanted encourage Rose to disclose to others in an effort to address well-being, it is important for the social worker to not impose her own ideas about should be done. Social workers need to be cautions when working with rape victims and understand where they are in the recovery process. The fact that Rose was able to open up to the social worker is a big step for Rose and should not be overlooked. Her disclosure to the social worker provides hope that Rose may later be comfortable to disclose to her family or seek assistance. Additionally, disclosing about the assault, as mention in the paper, may cause more harm to the client’s well-being. To encourage disclosure may be seen as rash and impulsive on the part of the social worker as Rose may not be ready yet. Thus, the decision to uphold self-determination for the time being, in addition to providing Rose with support and information on possible services is preferred. This option helps the social worker maintain a trusting relationship, uphold professional standards, and consider the well-being of the client without violating her

    Read More

More about Rape Survivors: The Role Of Empathy In Counseling

Open Document