Repeated explorations of violent scripts: psychotherapy for men acting violently against their female partner

ABSTRACT

The effects of psychotherapy for men perpetrating violence toward their female partners have been found to be modest or equivocal; therefore, further research is necessary to determine how therapists can intervene to help clients stop acting violently. To obtain a better understanding of successful therapist strategies in a particular case, we conducted an interpretive phenomenological analysis of interactional patterns and change processes during therapy sessions in four carefully selected cases - two cases in which the use of violence ended after the completion of therapy (violence ended) were compared with two cases in which the client completed therapy but continued to act violently (violence continued). The client’s use of violence was addressed repeatedly in all four cases, but the scripting of such events varied between the two case types. I) Violence ended: Joint explorations of the script of “the annoying other” led to therapist strategies that fostered new experiences of the states of mind of the client and partner. This seemed to help clients develop more caring and safer ways of relating to their partner. II) Violence continued: Engagement in the script of “hopeless me” was associated with therapist strategies that relied more on explanations of the client’s vulnerability to acting violently. This seemed to hinder deeper comprehension of the clients’ use of violence and the needs and intentions of their partners. Contrary to expectations, engagement in the script of “the annoying other” facilitated exploration of emotional states in both the client and his significant other. We present some empirically derived principles for moment-to-moment therapist strategies that facilitated in-session change with men acting violently toward their partner.

KEYWORDS:

• In-session change processes
• therapist strategies
• IPV individual therapy
• qualitative analysis
• scripts of violence

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Correction

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge John McLeod, Emeritus Professor of counselling at the University of Abertay Dundee, for his valuable comments to earlier versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2252719

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bente Lømo

Bente Lømo, PhD., educated at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo in 1993. She is a specialist in clinical psychology and a researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies. Central in her research is working alliance in intimate partner violence treatment, qualitative analysis of therapy processes and outcome. She has worked as a clinical psychologist for several years, with both perpetrators and survivors of domestic violence, and adults with substance abuse.

Hanne Haavind

Hanne Haavind, dr.philos, professor in clinical psychology, educated at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, and has since 1992 been a professor at the same department. She is a specialist in clinical psychology. For approximately 15 years full-time, she has worked as a clinical psychologist with children, youths, adults, and families. Central in her practice and research are personal development and sociocultural change, child care and social changes in parenting and family life, analyzing gendered meanings, and interpretative methods in clinical and social psychology.

Odd Arne Tjersland

Odd Arne Tjersland, dr.philos, professor in clinical psychology, educated at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo in 1974. He is a specialist in clinical child psychology (1986) and in clinical family psychology (1995). For approximately 15 years full-time, he has worked as clinical psychologist with children, youths, couples, and families. Central in his practice and research are family conflicts connected to separation, concerns about sexual abuse, violence, and substance abuse.