Abstract
The research area of this study examines the impact of the authors’ contribution to the field of counselling psychology, specifically in the area of psychological abuse.
Despite its overwhelming prevalence worldwide, psychological abuse has largely been a neglected area of study, with little understanding surrounding the complexities and mechanisms behind emotionally abusive dynamics. Psychological violence is estimated to be the most prevalent form of intimate partner violence (IPV) and yet, there is very little research on the individual impact of psychological abuse on mental health (Dokkedhal et al., 2019). Most victims of psychological abuse often do not know that they are experiencing abuse, even though there is a strong link between psychological abuse alone and a range of mental health disorders and physical conditions.
In an effort to address this significant gap in knowledge, the author has written the book, “If He’s So Great, Why Do I Feel So Bad? Recognizing and Overcoming Subtle Abuse”, which has been translated and published in twelve languages. Primary objectives of the book include:
- Helping women to accurately identify the more covert forms of psychological abuse.
- Learning personality traits of an abuser and of victims of abuse.
- Characteristics of abusive relationships that are often overlooked.
- How to recover from an abusive relationship.
Additionally, the author has written courses that have been taken by nearly 17,000 students, as well as helping clients through clinical practice. The author’s mission is to change the field of counselling psychology to accurately identify psychological abuse and effective intervention strategies, rather than continuing to neglect this subject and in doing so, reinforcing the problem and causing further traumatization.
In this retrospective analysis, a selective review of the literature on psychological abuse will examine the effects of psychological abuse on physical and mental health, why research is lacking, the effects of subtle psychological abuse, and how to best support patients in clinical practice. This critical commentary will also demonstrate how the author’s professional practice in counselling psychology has led to enhanced understanding of the effects of subtle abuse in intimate relationships, subsequently resulting in the book and courses. A final critical reflection highlights the methods used to investigate evidence of this, including the Hayes (1995) model of countertransference, which serves as a reflective practice to review and evaluate the validity of the efforts and to explore biases. This work is supported by a portfolio of evidence, which contains additional work by the author.