Healing the Cycle of Abuse

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Healing the Cycle of Abuse

• 5-14-09 Presentation at CCOSO Conference by
• Patricia Higgins, PhD, Coalinga State Hospital
• Lorraine Noomani, MFT, Coalinga State Hospital
• Ashwinder Tahim, BS, Coalinga State Hospital

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Credit/References

• This PPT is for your use but please give credit
  to authors and various published references
  if/when you use these materials for your own
  groups or presentations.
• Please view Notes in PPT (not just the slide
  presentation) since important information shared
  by presenters at CCOSO conference is included.
• Especially, view the Notes in PPT on the
  Reference slide as there are numerous references
  listed to help you in your program development.

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Agenda

• Description of Workshops Learning Objectives
• Relaxation / Guided Imagery Exercise
• Overview of Phase Cycle of Abuse (COA)
• Specific Topics in COA squirrel video clip
• Survey Results Personal Anecdotes re
  victim-perpetrator cycle cognitive distortions
• Affirmations Circle Validation video clip
• Inner Child NVC Play Therapy video clip
• Hand Art Project Exercise video clips
• True or False Quiz

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Learn

• To use interactive exercises from this group
  therapy series for abused abusers and
  victimized perpetrators.
• To teach about the possible effects of child
  abuse and developmental trauma
• To help clients make connections between past
  victimization and subsequent offending patterns
  focusing on healing the wounded inner child.

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Experiential Exercises

• Purpose
• Be a participant
• Be yourself / authentic
• Notice your feelings
• Learn and grow both personally and professionally

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Inner Child Healing
Not just book learning but learning through
feeling and doing
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Multi-modal learning approaches

• Establishing group guidelines and agendas
  collaboratively
• Didactics
• Music
• Art
• Animal-assisted activities
• Meditation/relaxation
• Inner child activities/kinesthetic play therapy

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Meditation Guided Imagery

• Sit back, breath deeply, relax and listen.while
  we guide you on a brief journey
• Reading from Belleruth Naparsteks Invisible
  Heroes Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal
• Native American flute played in the background...
• Naparsteks free meditation download available
  at
• http//www.healthjourneys.com/free_audio.asp

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COA Development Overview

• Clients requested this group
• 3 months of collaborative staff and client
  development of curriculum and group guidelines
• Introducing new reference materials continues to
  be encouraged (poems, meditations, news articles,
  books on healing from child abuse)

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Brief Overview of Phase SOCP

• 1. Treatment Readiness
• 2. Skills Acquisition
• 3. Skills Application
• 4. Discharge Readiness
• 5. Conditional Release under CONREP

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Phase COA Connections

• Specific connections between their own child
  abuse and their subsequent sex offending behavior
  by integrating insights into their
• Timelines
• Autobiographies
• Decision matrices
• Behavior chains
• Personal High Risk Factors, such as low
  self-esteem, loneliness, or depression.

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Survey Results Personal Anecdotes from Group

• Individuals have said that through this COA
  group, they have developed and are maintaining a
  sort of surrogate, supportive family of peers who
  really understand and appreciate them.
• Examples of connections between past abuse,
  triggers, crimes, and victim profiling.

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High Risk Connections to COA

• Low self esteem/feeling and talking negatively
  about self
• Getting angry resentful
• Isolation/loneliness and lack of social support
• Loss of emotions / Numbing out / not identifying
  feelings

• Parents were critical of client e.g. called him
  a useless idiot
• Was not allowed to express anger as a child - had
  to hold it in and suck it up or get beaten if
  feelings were expressed
• Wasnt allowed to have friends over / had to keep
  family secrets / got the message to be
  invisible
• Escaping pain fear through drugs, alcohol, or
  numbing out

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Making the Cognitive and Emotional Connections

• Learning to Love your Limbic System!

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Neuropsychological Factors

• Fight or Flight Response
• Overview of Brain Functions and Possible effects
  of Early Trauma, Neglect, and Abuse

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Developmental Trauma Examples

• Brief overview of individuals comments and
  observations
• ADD / ADHD Various Learning Disorders
• Early Alcohol and Drug Use
• Isolating to hide and / or Acting Out for
  attention
• Health Issues related to depression,
  nervousness, fatigue

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Building a Foundation for Success

• Give A Squirrel a Helping Hand video clip
• Just like in that video clip, we clinicians need
  to provide solid, safe platforms to guide clients
  to use building blocks such as coping skills,
  increased self-esteem, and self-efficacy to
  overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles such as
  healing from child abuse trauma.

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Early Attachment Issues
INSECURE
SECURE

• Avoidant
• Ambivalent/resistant
• Disorganized/disoriented

• Fromhttp//www.attachmentdisorder.net/What_is_att
  achment_disorder.htm

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Genograms
From http//www.genopro.com/screenshots/Genogram-
Software.png
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Affirmations CircleExercise

• Take an Affirmation card as it is passed out and
  read it silently to yourself.
• Stand and gather in groups of 10.
• Form a circle among yourselves facing each
  other.
• Follow these simple steps

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Validation

• Validation Video clip
• Validation is not just for parking anymore
• Validate, Encourage, and Support Clients!

You can do it!
You are appreciated!
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Healing Atmosphere

• Provide a safe, nurturing interactive
  environment, similar to a Montessori kindergarten
  type of atmosphere.
• Review of Group Guidelines and Rules
• Snacks / ice tea (comfort foods)
• Art materials (crayons, paper, markers, pencils)
• Music (drums, kazoos, bongos, humming, singing)

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Inner Child Kinesthetic Exercises

• Other activities to encourage movement
  participation PLAY!
• Mood Dudes squishy faces Mood Dudes Cubes, Mood
  Dudes Feelings posters cards
• Support Coping Skills exercises
• Yoga stretches

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Empathy Nurturing Activities

• Teaching responsibility of caring for living
  things
• Watering the plant
• Feeding the fish
• Petting the dog

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Compassionate Communications Exercises
Role-play the 4-part Compassionate Communications
model (observations, feelings, needs, requests)
using Nonviolent Communications giraffe jackal
puppets
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Empathic Card Games

• Play NVC card game Grok to learn about Feelings
  Needs
• Use NVC example sample cards for role playing
  daily practice tips

http//www.cnvc.org
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NVC in action

• NVC video clips with role playing Self and Other
  Empathy ( the Toilet Seat Argument) featuring
  Kelly Bryson, LMFT, NVC trainer, using Giraffe
  and Jackal puppets
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vjonHOXS2H-U
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v0SpXRmLIcmQfeature
  related

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Art Expression Activity

• Interactive Art Exercise adapted from Dr.
  Irvings Child Abuse Monument program and web
  site http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfYjLirjL32Q
• Use one of the colored pens and one of the sheets
  of paper to trace your hand and then draw a
  smaller hand inside of that.and follow the rest
  of these verbal directions.

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Symbolically Reaching Out
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The Big Picture

• Cant we all live in harmony? If a dog, a cat,
  and a rat can.why cant we learn to let go of
  stereotypes, maladaptive defense mechanisms, and
  preconceived notions that may stem from
  inadequate social learning, trauma, or abuse?
• A message of PEACE HOPE for us all from the
  Dog, Cat, and Rat in Santa Barbara, CA
• the Dog, Cat, Rat You Tube clip

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True or False

• Victims of sexual childhood abuse rarely, if
  ever, become sexual perpetrators themselves
  because they know how much it hurt them as
  children and they could never do anything similar
  themselves.
• Sexual offenders cannot learn to cope with or
  ever heal from developmental trauma, attachment
  disorders, inner child wounds, and/or poor
  parental modeling.
• 3. Integrating nonverbal activities such as
  drawing, music, plant-fish-animal-assisted
  activities, and meditation can help stimulate
  childhood memories and foster an atmosphere
  conducive to healing the inner child.

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References

• www.childtraumaacademy.com
• http//www.cnvc.org
• http//www.irvingstudios.com/child_abuse_survivor_
  monument/GiveUsAHand.htm
• http//www.danielsonkin.com/wounded_boys.htm
  (this free full text e-book of Wounded Boys
  Heroic Men is also in PPT Notes view)
• Dont forget to click the Notes view for many
  more references!