Married to a victim6

Married To A Victim
When A Wife/Mother Has Been Affected by
Childhood Sex Crimes and Trauma

• The statistics regarding the numbers of children that are
hurt in a one year period of time are staggering. It is
likely that a significant percentage of women entering
marriage and family life will be dealing with the
consequences of having been traumatized as a child.
• In a one year period of time for children 17 or younger:
• 60.6% experienced at least one direct victimization or
witnessed someone else’s victimization,
• 46.3% experienced a physical assault,
• 24.6% were the victim of a property offense,
• 10.2% were victims of child maltreatment,
• 6.1% were victims of sex crimes. (NCVC, 2012).

Choice of Topic

• In 80.7% of child abuse cases reported, parents or
guardians were the perpetrators of the crimes
(NCVC, 2012).
• Most trauma is underreported, because there is a social
stigma against accurate reporting of family violence (van
der Kolk, 2005).
• Nearly 57% of children will experience some form of
physical violence during their lifetime (NCVC, 2012).
• Most individuals with a trauma history have been
exposed to violence multiple times, and rarely are victims
exposed to violence only once (Cloitre et al., 2009).

Choice of Topic

• Records from the Forum on Child and Family Statistics (2012)
indicate the following percentages for racial breakdowns for
trauma affecting children 17 years old and younger:
• 54.8% White, non-Hispanic
• 23.3% Hispanic
• 14% Black
• 4.3% Asian
• 4.9% All other races
• White, non-Hispanic, and Black percentages are projected to
decline, and Hispanic percentages are projected to radically
increase. Asian percentages are projected to increased
nominally (Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2012).

Diversity and Ethnicity
Differences

• When children are the victims of trauma, especially when the
perpetrators are parents or guardians, they have a greater
tendency to develop Complex PTSD or Developmental
Trauma Disorder and to develop negative symptoms in
affective and interpersonal self-regulatory capacities (Cloitre et
al., 2009).
• Some of these symptoms are seen in adulthood as anxious
arousal, anger management problems, dissociative
symptoms, and either aggressive or socially avoidant behaviors
(Cloitre et al., 2009).
• If a woman enters marriage or family life with these issues
unresolved, there are many negative consequences that may be
experienced by all members of the family unit.

Choice of Topic

• The research from Cloitre et al. (2009) indicates that
exposure to multiple or repeated traumas in childhood
result in symptoms that are not only more severe than
experiencing a single childhood event or even multiple
events in adulthood, but are qualitatively different in
their tendency to affect multiple affective or interpersonal
areas of functioning.
• Children who are chronically traumatized, especially by
attachment figures (parents / guardians) are in a category
all of their own, due to the extreme nature of the
symptoms that will develop for them (Cloitre et al, 2009).

Brief Analysis of the Lit

• Regardless of the accumulated impact of childhood and
adult trauma, trauma experienced in childhood is more
likely to negatively impact a person due to the fact that it
was experienced at critical developmental periods
(Cloitre et al., 2009).
• Research indicates that the impact of childhood trauma
combined with the subsequent adult trauma that was
experienced because child victims were more prone to
revictimization, could possibly overwhelm self-
regulatory systems (Cloitre et al, 2009).


• When self-regulation is impaired many additional
symptoms develop such as:
• emotionally, such as overactivation or
deactivation/avoidance,
• behaviorally, such as dysphoria, anger, or dissociation, or
• relationally, such as aggression, dependence, distance, or
avoidance. (Cloitre et al, 2009).
• Many suffering from chronic childhood abuse will find
that they suffer from co-occurring contradictory
symptoms such as hyperarousal/emotional numbing and
hypervigilance/poor concentration (Cloitre et al, 2009).


• At times while a person is experiencing trauma their mind
is not able to handle the depth of the tragedy, and in a
state of shock, a dissociation occurs which allows some
feelings of detachment from the body, sense of self, or
the world, thus ensuring survival during the traumatizing
experience (Lyttle et al., 2010).
• If a person suffers a tragedy extreme enough to result in
some dissociation during the event they may find they
develop more problems with processing through the
memory of the event and understanding its meaning
(Lyttle et al., 2010).


• This is especially troubling if the trauma were repeated in
a chronic fashion, resulting in many layers of memories
of trauma that have never been processed (Cloitre et
al., 2009).
• It is also troubling if the trauma was perpetrated by an
attachment figure, resulting in an unbeknownst distortion
of the meanings of the attachment figure’s role in the
victim’s life (Cloitre et al., 2009).


• Memory is normally processed in order from the most
basic information, such as chronological order of
events, to the highest level, such as determining
meaning (Lyttle et al., 2010).
• Individuals who have been exposed to trauma may
struggle with disjointed, disorganized, or detail-deficient
memories, and those memories are sometimes
remembered with distorted chronological ordering (Lyttle
et al., 2010).


• Many people who have experienced trauma deal with intrusive
memories of the trauma brought to mind by a triggering event
such as a color, movement, smell, or context that is similar to
their original sensory or emotional experience (Lyttle et
al., 2010).
• Some of those sensory experiences are so vivid and realistic
that they seem to be reoccurring, and the victim may respond
the same way she would have at the time (Lyttle et al., 2010).
• At every reminder of any of the unprocessed trauma incidents
stored in their memories their only option is to re-experience
the event as if it was actually happening, resulting in
retraumatization (van der Kolk, 2005).


• Parents are responsible to assist children with making sense
of situations and developing a normal response, and when a
parent is both the person inflicting the trauma and also the
person helping the child to make sense of the event and
develop a response, traumatized children are easily
programmed by abusive parents / guardians into handling
traumatic situations in a way that allows abusers to continue
abusing (van der Kolk, 2005).
• If children learn to regulate their behavior in anticipation of
their caregiver’s responses, and the social environment is
more important for childhood brain development than the
physical environment, then the early patterns of repeated
trauma at the hands of an attachment figure train those victims
to become robotic (van der Kolk, 2005).


• They never learn a language to either process events and
regulate themselves internally or communicate meaning
and emotion externally (van der Kolk, 2005).
• Instead those children fragment their
sensations, affects, and cognitions and become unable to
comprehend what is happening or devise and execute any
appropriate plan of action (van der Kolk, 2005).
• Children who learn to handle repeated trauma with no
sense of control or stability become helpless, unable to
grasp what is happening to them or to devise any plan of
action to change their circumstances (van der
Kolk, 2005).


• Each fearful stimulus is handled by freezing, fleeing, or
fighting, and consequently these children never learn or
grow from their experiences (van der Kolk, 2005).
• Additionally, since there is no mental form for knowing
how to understand and process novel
experiences, traumatized individuals tend to stick with
the familiar even if it is unsafe (van der Kolk, 2005).
• This pattern will result in adult victims of childhood
abuse continuing interpersonal and emotional patterns
that allow them to be re-victimized throughout their
adult lives (van der Kolk, 2005).


• Many adult survivors of complex and repeated traumas
during childhood will end up being erroneously
diagnosed with many psychiatric disorders that only
describe their symptoms partially, will be exposed to
many contradictory and even harmful treatment
plans, and will be left feeling even more stigmatized and
damaged by repeated psychiatric misdiagnosis (Cloitre et
al, 2009).
• Adult victims of repeated childhood trauma may find that
a single diagnosis of Complex PTSD or Developmental
Trauma Disorder and a single treatment plan will be more
effective than multiple psychiatric diagnoses or treatment
plans (Cloitre et al., 2009).


• Because former victims of childhood abuse have been
conditioned to “fit” well with an abuser’s way of thinking
and functioning, there is a tendency to form relationships
with and eventually marry abusive men. Because that is
what feels natural problems with
physical, emotional, mental, or sexual abuse may develop
in marriages or long term relationships.
• Re-victimization can occur within the family, especially if
the husband or children have tendencies to misuse power
or roles.

Implications to Marriage
and Family Life

• Many former victims may still struggle with symptoms of
PTSD, such as dissociation, re-
experiencing, nightmares, psychosomatic body pain, and emotional
flashbacks. These symptoms may help wives feel mentally
incompetent or confused, and they may be tempted to shield their
family from the true depth of their suffering. This could result in a
husband or family who lacks understanding, develops
assumptions, and consequently does not deal with her in a
compassionate or understanding way, simply due to ignorance. Each
symptom that remains for her will need to be explored together with
the husband, and a joint plan will need to be developed. Conversely
there may be wives who embrace a victim mentality and draw
attention to their negative symptomology thus causing feelings of
frustration to develop with husbands and family members.

and Family Life

• Most former victims are likely to have sleep difficulties.
Husbands and extended family members may need to be
educated about sleep, sleep patterns, sleep
disturbances, and methods that could be employed to
assist in wakeful productivity.
• Former victims may struggle with trusting others. This
will significantly affect personal confidence, decision
making, problem solving, sexual relationships, and
parenting.

and Family Life

• Most former victims lack a sense of personal safety, and they
may develop inappropriate clinginess toward or isolation from
their husbands or children.
• Wives with this past may struggle with an inappropriate
balance regarding Biblical submission. Wives with this past
may appear to be appropriate in submission, but in actuality
they may be simply robotically obeying without thinking.
Husbands will need to help wives develop a more biblical view
of submission, without taking advantage of their sometimes
blind trust and obedience. Conversely, wives may struggle
with over-independence and may struggle with Biblically
appropriate submission toward their husbands.

and Family Life

• Sexual problems are likely, and a wife will need
patience, understanding, and gentle assistance from her
husband to develop a mutually satisfying sexual relationship.
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and early child rearing tasks may be
especially difficult experiences, and husbands will need to be
gentle, compassionate, and protective.
• It may be hard for mothers to teach their children to be safe in
interpersonal relationships or to know how to resist a sexual
perpetrator, because topics of an interpersonal or sexual nature
seem impossible to understand or navigate. They may also
lack the knowledge that sexual safety is a topic that should be
taught to their children.

and Family Life

• Wives may develop either abusive patterns or indulgent
patterns toward their husbands or children. Former victims
may be extremely overprotective or detached or negligent
about the safety of their husbands or children.
• Because such vocabulary and communication delays
exist, husbands, children, and extended family members will
need to be patient as former victims struggle through learning
to communicate in a language and method their family
understands. Miscommunications because of language and
vocabulary delays can tend to misrepresent
intentions, meaning, or real situational truth, and feelings can
be hurt, confusion may result, and tension and conflict may
arise.

and Family Life

• Wives who suffer from these issues could appear rigid or
perfectionistic in their personal structure, how they run
their household, and how they interact with family
members. Wives with this type of upbringing may
struggle when their sense of order or their standards of
cleanliness are not upheld. When schedules, plans, or
systems change this could be especially distressing.
Conversely they could be extremely complacent about
house rules and order.

and Family Life

• Systems Theory is designed to inspect an organism as a
whole, looking at all elements in the system to understand
how their function affects the greater whole
(Kefalas, 2011).
• Relationships within the system are the bonds that link
the independent components of the system together
(Kefalas, 2011).
• Symbiotic relationships indicate that the total sum of the
parts is worth a great degree of value than the individuals
components added together (Kefalas, 2011).

Impact from a Systems
Perspective

• Special attention is paid to
boundaries, environments, attributes, and feedback within
those relationships (Kefalas, 2011).
• When a marital / family relationship includes the wife
and/or mother having been traumatized in childhood by a
caregiver each component of the family system will be
affected and possibly disrupted by her developmental
delays.
• The relationships within the marriage / family will be
dramatically affected by her developmental
delays, whether positively or negatively.

Perspective

• Any woman in this position believing that her past can be
ignored or disregarded would be engaging in erroneous
thinking. Any husband in this situation would need to be
informed that he will need to be involved in his wife’s
therapeutic endeavors, and that his involvement could so
substantially impact the family that they experience
symbiotic and exponential growth.

Perspective

• With Systems theory in mind, no wife/mother should
assume that seeking therapy independent of some
involvement of the other members of her family would be
wise, ultimately most helpful, or destined to produce the
greatest result. Wives / mothers should seek help for their
personal background problems in the context of a loving
family that will be involved in her overall progress.

Perspective

• My primary theoretical orientation is Biblical Counseling.
I believe the Bible speaks God’s truth in a way that
applies to even the most heinous crimes and difficult
situations.
• Counseling using this theoretical orientation would
include carefully gathering data in a gentle and thorough
manner (Prov 18:13), addressing the areas of weakness or
developmental deficiency that are found in the client (2
Tim 3:16-17), and restoring the person to a right
relationship with Christ and others (the book of
Ephesians).

Personal Theoretical Orientation

• The careful and loving nature of Christian therapeutic
counseling relationships provides an environment that is
conducive to gentle, gracious, and compassionate care
(Col 1:12-13; James 1:27) focused on establishing justice
for the oppressed (Jer 22:3; Zech 7:9-11; Malachi 3:5;
James 1:27).
• With the many errant definitions and meaning
assumptions inherent in the life of a former victim the
solidity and applicability of scriptural standards will be
necessary (John 17:17).


• I also appreciate many of the key concepts present in
Existential Therapy such as the dedication to discovering
meaning and purpose in the
physical, social, psychological, and spiritual dimensions
as well as Cognitive Behavior Therapy’s focus on
addressing dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and
cognitions through a systematic and organized training
approach.


• God clearly states that his disciples are known by their
love for others and their repudiation of the use of hatred
in relationships (Eph 4:1-3; John 13:34-35). Treatment
must be the result of a loving therapeutic relationship
designed to assist and compassionately care for the
oppressed.
• Scripture states that the oppressed are to be cared for in
an especially compassionate manner that is focused on
meeting needs, providing care, and seeking justice (Psalm
82:3; 89:14)

Biblical Orientation to the
Treatment

• Scripture also states that God’s follower are to hate
violence, evil, and wickedness, especially when used against others
to dominate and abuse them (Psalm 11:5; 72:14; Prov 3:31; Ecc 4:1-
3; Isaiah 33:15-16; Jer 22:3). Treatment would need to include
education and reorientation to God’s views about violence and His
commands that parents / guardians keep their children safe (Prov
11:29; Eph 6:1-4).
• Scripture has many clear passages giving guidelines for appropriate
patterns of thinking, processing, and speculation (2 Cor 10:3-5).
These concepts must be taught in the treatment process.
• The husband must learn his wife and be active in the process of
helping her learn and grow past her traumatic issues of the past (Eph
5:25-33).

Treatment

• Scripture also states that God loves clear vocabulary and
precise communication (I Jn 1:5-10; Eph 4:15). This supports
treatment goals designed to assist clients in obtaining
developmentally and interpersonally appropriate vocabulary
for clear inter and intrapersonal communication.
• Scripturally accurate parent / child relationships are based on
love not aggression (Eph 6:1-4), and education about what is a
biblically appropriate parent / child relationship structure will
be necessary, even if the topic is difficult (I Kings 2:1-4; Ex
20:12; Levitical law concerning parents; Ruth 2:11; Psalm
27:10; Prov 1:8; 30:11, 17; Matt 10:37; Gen 2:23-24; Matt
19:29; John 19:27; Col 3:20-21; I Thess 2:7; I Tim 1:8-10; 5:2)

Treatment

• Using Scriptural truth to educate regarding emotional
regulation will be necessary, since God’s goal for his followers
is joy (Psalm 16:11; Gal 5:22, 23). Learning how to identify
and regulate emotion using Biblical terminology will be solid
and stable (Gal 5:22,23; Col 3:12-17).
• Scripture also speaks to the importance of communicating in a
way that is clear, loving, edifying, and focused on solving
problems (Eph 4:29, 32). Treatment including biblical
mandates regarding communication styles, patterns, and
directives will be helpful for those former victims of child
abuse that have been particularly affected in their verbal
processes.

Treatment

• Additional scriptural passages may be utilized which
address:
• conflict and problem solving (Matt 7:1-12, 18:15-19)
• decision making and careful planning (Ecc 9:10; I Kings
6:38; I Chron 15:1; Esther 4:15, 5:1, 6:1; Prov 15:22; 16:3;
20:18; Is 29:15 32:8)
• fear, anxiety, and worry (Psalm 23; 27; 33:18; 34:7; Matt
6:24-26;10:26-31; Phil 4:6-8; I Peter 5:6-8)
• handling authority figures (I Peter 2:13-25)

Treatment

• Rehabilitation for Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma
Disorder sufferers will follow a three step process including
symptom reduction and life stabilization, processing of
traumatic memories and emotions, and rehabilitation in areas
of deficiency in life skills (van der Kolk & Courtois, 2005).
• Treatment plans must include goals designed to complete the
following tasks:
• To process and resolve damaged interpersonal development
• To heal attachment-related injuries
• To rehabilitate developmental competencies
• To teach a vocabulary that can be used to understand emotions
and emotional management,
• To deal with problems in interpersonal relationship functioning
• To revise negative social perceptions (Cloitre et al., 2009).

Goals

• Additionally, treatment plans must allow for the establishment
of safe contexts where clients may practice observing
accurately, contextualizing appropriately, learning to self-
regulate, and communicate with others without returning to old
negative fearful responses (van der Kolk, 2005).
• Unresolved trauma must also be processed and understood
without utilizing old fearful reactions, aggressive physical or
sexual acting out, avoidance, or uncontrolled emotional
reactions (van der Kolk, 2005).
• There must also be opportunities to be in charge of
situations, make decisions, and engage in goal oriented and
evaluated endeavors (van der Kolk, 2005).

Goals

• There is a need to provide settings where traumatized
individuals learn to relax and handle situations without
becoming either irritable or isolated (van der Kolk, 2005).
• Psychoeducation regarding patient safety, affect
regulation, coping and self-management skills must be
offered (van der Kolk & Courtois, 2005)
• Although the focus of much PTSD therapy simply
involves the processing of memories, individuals with
Developmental Trauma Disorder or Complex PTSD must
first learn to process and think through complex matters
before they can be expected to be able to assign meaning
to unresolved sensory experiences related to memories
from past trauma (van der Kolk & Courtois, 2005)

Goals

• The most effective treatment begins with a good
therapeutic relationship that is perceived to be safe and is
absent of wrong therapist interpretations, abrupt shifts in
relationship boundaries, therapist disbelief or
minimization, disagreements over manipulation, and
countertransference (Dalenberg, 2004).
• Additional therapeutic interventions that may be helpful
include Journaling specifically designed to capture data
from spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, and physical
domains that allow for orderly processing (Zappert &
Westrup, 2008)

Treatment Interventions

• Narrative therapy, which provides a context for clients to
work through the events of their past and formulate
subjective meanings, allows clients to not only formulate
the events of their past into a story format but it also
allows them to determine meaning for those events
(Phipps & Vorster, 2009).
• Additionally, Creative Arts, Music, and Movement
Therapy Interventions may be found to be an effective
means of processing for those who are new and ill-
equipped to process difficult memories verbally (Stuckey
& Nobel, 2010)

Treatment Interventions

• There are several commonalities that will be true for most
suffering from Complex PTSD or Developmental Trauma
Disorder. These issues must be explored to deduce and
determine whether they are applicable to a specific client.
If the following issues apply to the
client, psychoeducation and specific treatment must be
provided to alleviate the negative symptomology.

Addressing This Issue

• Children who have been traumatized by caregivers will
likely suffer from distinct alterations in states of
consciousness, such as
amnesia, hypernesia, dissociation, depersonalization and
derealization, flashbacks and nightmares, school
problems, difficulties in attention
regulation, disorientation to time and space, and
sensorimotor developmental disorders (van der
Kolk, 2005). Clients will need to be taught to control
their thinking, stay present, learn concentration
techniques, and remain oriented.


• Victims of repeated childhood trauma will also lack an
understanding of their emotions or feelings and will lack
a means of communication to describe their internal state
(van der Kolk, 2005). Clients will need to be taught to
understand and identify actual emotions and then
accurately communicate their internal emotional states to
others.


• Victims of repeated childhood trauma will lack a good sense of
cause and effect, including an ability to evaluate the
consequences of their own choices (van der Kolk, 2005).
Clients will need to be taught to think through decisions, enact
good choices, and process or evaluate decisions to make
adjustments for the future. Clients will need to be taught
wisdom instead of automatic and robotic reaction.
• Because traumatized individuals do not have a good concept
for who they are as individuals they will be unable to articulate
their need for help or enlist others to help them, resulting in a
life as a loner (van der Kolk, 2005). Clients will need to be
taught to evaluate their own needs, communicate them
accurately, effectively measure the safety of individuals, and
then interact with them as appropriate for the relationship.


• Because these individuals lack the developmental ability to
process through events and make sense of them, new things are
likely to threaten them, resulting in individuals that appreciate
safe, predictable, and orderly processes in life (van der
Kolk, 2005). Clients will need to learn how to react to new
events, process through them wisely, and keep themselves safe
without allowing obsessive or compulsive patterns to develop.
• Most individuals who have been traumatized as children will
experience psychopathologies related to anxiety since they do
not have any framework for how to deal with real or perceived
fear (van der Kolk, 2005). Clients will need to be taught to
deal with fear, anxiety, and worry in a healthy manner.


• When the trauma has included physical or sexual assault
substance abuse, borderline or antisocial personality
disorders, eating
disorders, dissociative, affective, somatoform, cardiovasc
ular, metabolic, immunological, and sexual disorders
sometimes develop (van der Kolk, 2005). As these issues
become apparent in a client’s life, they will need to be
treated and resolved.
• Because this trauma is experienced during key
developmental times there may also be
cognitive, language, motor, and socialization delays (van
der Kolk, 2005). Additional developmental delays will
need to be resolved as they are discovered.


• Developmental delays in the following areas must be treated:
• affect regulation difficulty
• rapid and/or regressive shifts in emotional states
• attachment patterns being either too isolated or too clingy
• lack of autonomy in decision making
• aggressive behavior against self and others
• damaged body regulation in sleep, eating behaviors, and self-care
• a faulty understanding of the structure or framework of the world in
which they live
• trouble anticipating the behavior or expectations of others
• somatic problems, from gastrointestinal distress to headaches
• a lack of awareness of danger
• self endangering behaviors
• self-hatred and self-blame
• chronic feelings of ineffectiveness (van der Kolk, 2005).


• Because safety is such a predominant concern for the woman
affected by childhood trauma special care will need to be taken
to provide a safe environment and adequate time conducive to
building a therapeutic relationship that fosters the welfare of
the client (ACA, 2005).
• Additionally, there may be confidentiality concerns for clients
who may have been forced to complete crimes under the
control of their childhood attachment figures. Records will
need to be kept in a complete and accurate manner while still
maintaining the security of privileged communication that
allows the client to feel secure sharing difficult and possibly
implicating information from her past (ACA, 2005).

Ethical Issues of Concern

• Because women with this past are so easily
controlled, manipulated and taken advantage of the
therapist working with her must be conscious of the
possibility of a person with a strong or dominant
personality easily taking the place of a former abuser
which would violate the ethical mandate to avoid harming
the client (ACA, 2005).
• Because the client is likely to need lengthy services to
fully resolve her developmental delays care must be paid
to the establishment of prices for services, being mindful
of the client’s ability to pay for services rendered, without
the client becoming financially burdened by services she
is being told to engage in but which she has no personal
autonomous power to decline (ACA, 2005).


• Care would be needed if the client exposed current child
or elder abuse occurring within the same family
relationship of her youth. Reports to authorities may
need to be made regarding her own or others abuse
(ACA, 2005).
• Because women who were traumatized in their youth are
so likely to cling to a safe relationship once it is
found, therapists must work to avoid any number of
inappropriate levels of involvement based on the client’s
desire to be close them, such as the “savior complex,”
inappropriate sexual relationships, and breaches of client /
therapist boundaries (ACA, 2005).


• Additionally, if the client’s husband who was not also a
client were to attend counseling, careful consideration
would be needed to determine the level of confidential
and troubling information revealed during a session in
which he was present (ACA, 2005).


• Many resources exist for those working through childhood trauma and
abuse. Depending on the specific need the following resources may be
helpful:
• National Association of Nouthetic Counselors - Biblical Counselors can be
searched according to geographic location at www.nanc.org
• Vision of Hope Residential Treatment Center – Faith based residential
treatment designed to help women between the ages of 14-28 dealing with the
long term effects of trauma and abuse at www.vohlafayette.org
• Pure Life Ministries – Faith based counseling services who are dealing with
sexual problems www.purelifeministries.com
• National Center for PTSD – United States Department of Veterans Affairs
website with information regarding trauma and PTSD www.ptsd.va.org
• National Institute of Mental Health – PTSD information page
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-
ptsd/index.shtml

Resources

• The implications regarding the millions of individuals
affected by childhood trauma on
marriages, families, social systems, and communities are
staggering.
• The many women affected by childhood
trauma, especially those whose trauma was inflicted by
attachment figures, will be likely to suffer
significantly, and that suffering can dramatically impact
both individual health and the health their marriage and
family.
• However, the assistance that is available from therapeutic
interventions, specifically Biblical counseling along with
existential and cognitive behavior concepts, could offer
significant resolutions for their perceived developmental
delays.
Conclusions

American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Retrieved from http://counseling.org/Resources/CodeOfEthics/TP/Home/CT2.aspx
Cloitre, M., Stolbach, B. C., Herman, J. L., Kolk, B., Pynoos, R., Wang, J., & Petkova, E.
(2009). A developmental approach to complex PTSD: Childhood and adult cumulative
trauma as predictors of symptom complexity. Journal Of Traumatic Stress, 22(5), 399-
408. Retrieved at www.ebsco.com
Dalenberg, C. J. (2004). Maintaining the safe and effective therapeutic relationship in the
context of distrust and dnger: Countertransference and complex crauma. Psychotherapy:
Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41(4), 438-447. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.41.4.438
Forum On Child and Family Statistics. (2012). America’s children: Key national indicators of
well-being, 2011. Retrieved at http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/demo.asp
Kefalas, A. G. (2011). On systems thinking and the systems approach. World Futures: The
Journal Of General Evolution, 67(4/5), 343-371. doi:10.1080/02604027.2011.585911
Kessler, R. C. (2000). Posttraumatic stress disorder: The burden to the individual and to society.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61 (Suppl 5), 41-12. Retrieved at www.ebsco.com
Lyttle, N., Dorahy, M. J., Hanna, D., & Huntjens, R. C. (2010). Conceptual and perceptual
priming and dissociation in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal Of Abnormal
Psychology, 119(4), 777-790. doi:10.1037/a0020894

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