Intimate Partner Violence, Trauma and Decision Making Resources

Lerner, C., Kennedy, L. (2000). Stay-leave decision making in battered

women: Trauma, coping and self-efficacy. Cognitive Therapy and
Research, 24(2), 215-232.
As many as 80% of women who experience domestic violence
meet the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The traumatic process has an effect on the victims cognitive
processes and functioning including cognitive appraisals,
cognitive schemas, symptom expression, and resolution as well
as behavioral action.
Passive and avoidant coping strategies, seen as adaptive
responses to danger, may have negative effects on decision
making ability.
The time period 6 months after leaving the relationship was
found to be particularly vulnerable for deciding to return. This
was seen as the most psychologically intense and vulnerable
time: the victim has low confidence about the initial decision to
leave, demand on coping resources is high and trauma
symptoms such as sleep problems, depression and dissociation
are high.
Kyspin-Exner, I., Lueger-Schuster, B., Moser, E., Robinson, S.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Decision-Making Neural Correlates and Possible Therapeutic Effects. Downloaded
6/1/10 from http://brl.psy.univie.ac.at/research/decisions/
Decision-making is a complex process that requires identifying
alternatives, evaluating their probability and estimating their
consequences. Numerous studies have shown that this process
can be biased by background moods and emotions of the
deciding individual. However, delaying decisions until one is cool
and collected is not possible in some pathological states with
affects being altered in the long term. This is the case in
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its symptoms include
disturbances of attention, memory, cognition, and impaired
problem-solving - all components of efficient decision-making.
PTSD patients also exhibit altered brain activation in regions
involved in decision-making, the anterior cingulate (ACC),

orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Thus, decisionmaking is likely to be impaired in PTSD.
Ortiz, Maria. (2008). Healing the Trauma of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder in Battered Women. PowerPoint Presentation.
Relationship Training Institute. Downloaded on 6/1/10 from
www.RTIprojects.org.
Power of Non-negative Thinking:
The importance of being rational
- Try not to make major decisions in high emotional
states
- Decisions that lead to relief from negative feelings
(i.e., guilt) are usually not logical
- Sample of logic in many battered women: I feel
sorry for him. He misses me. Hes falling apart. He
says he will never do it again. Maybe I should go
back and give him another chance.
- More effective to ask: What is in my best interest?
What if he hits me again in front of the children?
- CONCLUSION: Decision driven by emotional impulses
are never in your best interest.
When Self-Advocacy is Lacking:
Placing other peoples wants ahead of your own
Unassertiveness and tolerance of disrespect
Decision making is based on beliefs of obligation (supposed
to, should, have to)
Inability to deal with hostility
Negative self talk
Kubany, E., Hill, E., Owens, J. (2003). Cognitive trauma therapy for
battered women with PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16(1),
81-91.
Cognitive Trauma Therapy for battered Women (CTT-BW)
modules covered in the latter sessions focus on self-advocacy
and empowerment and include (a) training in how to differentiate
between assertive and aggressive speech and how to be
assertive in response to verbal aggression, (b) how to identify
potential perpetrators, (c) how to respond to telephone and faceto-face harassment by former partners, and (d) psycho-education
on self-advocacy strategies in five areas of functioning (e.g.,

getting personal needs satisfied as a top priority; decision

making that promotes self-interests; standing up for ones
rights).