NCJ Number
143781
Journal
NOVA Newsletter Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Dated: (1993) Pages: 1-13
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
While most victim service providers do not provide mental health therapy, many victims will require long-term supportive counseling and advocacy because of conflict with the criminal justice system, the perceived failure of the system in cases where there is no arrest, secondary events that trigger crisis reactions on a regular basis, and the longer amount of time some victims require to cope with their experiences.
Abstract
Supportive counseling often occurs after the initial trauma has subsided and the victim perceives a need for additional emotional support. This type of counseling should be trauma-specific, reassure victims of their ability to function, establish the therapist as a silent partner to the victim throughout the recovery process, and help the victim establish a unique pathway to reconstruction. Counseling techniques include education, in terms of practical information, death and dying instruction, self-assessments, and goal-setting challenges, as well as helping the victim establish a healthy routine and overcome her sense of estrangement and isolation through social integration. Advocacy should be used in partnership with supportive counseling to help the victim overcome the "second assaults" perpetrated in the aftermath of catastrophe, search for meaning in the experience by changing things so that it cannot recur, and fight the depression and anger that accompany trauma. 14 references