Case Study: Experiencing Domestic Violence

Experiencing domestic violence at a young age can cause a significant amount of trauma that affects children physical, emotional, cognitive development and their ability to regulate their emotions when faced with even the smallest amount of stress. In the case of James, he expresses the typical signs of children in an unstable environment. When children home environment is disrupted, they typically show signs at places such as school, which is the first indicator that something is wrong. James home transition and separation from his sibling and primary caregiver could trigger behaviors that was once not an issue. James as had displayed behaviors before the transition but they were not severe as they are now. James now exhibits feelings of
James struggle to feel love and have self-esteem as a result of neglect. As much as James wanted to feel in control of his life, he felt weak and powerless because he could not stop the abuse that was happening to his mother out of fear from his farther. Additionally, James has undergone such traumatic abuse, not only towards himself but also witnessing his mother being abused. Inter-parental abuse is a public health concerns worldwide, that has been proven to result in negative outcomes for adolescents, including depression among children (Nowakowski1 ,Choi, Meers , and Temple ,2016). To support James, the intervention that will be used will be a trauma focused cognitive-behavioral therapy. This intervention will help him process his trauma and understand how his thoughts impact his feelings and behaviors. It is imperative that there is a behavior and emotional assessment completed before implementing a Trauma Systems Therapy (TST)
This is also true in James case as well, due to him experiencing complex intergenerational trauma. James mother and uncle were both victims of physical and emotionally abused. Understanding James family history there is connection to realizing that his mother may have a difficult time with loving him and proving him the confront he needs due to her upbringing. Children that are neglect and abused all have different ways of coping with their abuse once they are adults and have children of their own. As Patrick mentioned his sister at very young age was experimental with drugs and engaging in sexual behavior with men. All in which resulted in her having to undergo more traumatic events such as an abortion at a young age. These events play a significate role in her future parenting techniques and role she would play as a mother. On the other hand, Patrick suffered the same trauma as his sister, but his approach as an adult is to give his nephew the love that was not granted to him. Patrick not having children gave him the opportunity to grow and heal before involving a potential partner or children in his life. The effects of intergeneration trauma could be one in which last through multiple generations but with the right treatments for James, hopefully the cycle