A reconceptualization of issues in the treatment of abused women: A case study

The personality profile of abused women needs to be reconceptualized as a result of living in an abusive situation rather the antecedent which provokes abuse from the spouse. The personality traits exhibited by abused women closely parallel symptoms of learned helplessness, a concept which can be used to explain the perception of no alternatives, an inability to effect change, and passivity. A strategy for therapeutic intervention is outlined through a case study which suggests changing faulty beliefs and developing skills prior to instituting change in the abused woman's environment. The case study is significant in its successful modification of the abusive male's behavior even though he never came to therapy. Significant post-therapy decreases in M M PI personality scales as well as mood scales indicated vast personality changes in the client as a result of her successful attempts to change her environment.