Research projects are(co)funded by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Member of the University of Ljubljana

UL Faculty of Theology

Code

 J5-9349

Project

The Process of Resolving Physical and Sexual Violence and Relational Family Therapy

Period

1.7.2018 - 30.6.2021

Range on year

0,98 FTE

Head

Repič Slavič Tanja

Research activity

Social Sciences / Psychology

Research organisations

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Abstract

 

Individuals who have experienced physical or sexual violence in their childhood and face their consequences in adulthood need expert help to fundamentally transform their patterns, relationships and inner attitudes so that they can no longer find themselves in vicious circles of violence, either as victims or as perpetrators, and no longer need to experience the unpleasant consequences of violence or even pass them on to their children (Gostečnik 2015, 2017; Repič Slavič 2008, 2017). Available are many different techniques, advisory methods and approaches, which only allow solving problems at a somehow superficial level, as they do not offer enough opportunity to address all the dynamics and emotional states left by the trauma of violence. This is exactly what the contemporary relational psychotherapeutic paradigm, which also includes the Relational Family Therapy (Gostečnik 2011, 2012, 2013), emphasizes: unresolved psychological contents, which are also neurobiologically recorded in human body, surface as various symptomatic and often non-functional behaviours. Through the mechanisms of projection-introjection identification (transference and counter-transference), the RFT penetrates into unconscious memory, and thus, by bringing its contents into consciousness, helps to regulate the individual's psychobiological states and the affects arising from these states. In addition to strong theoretical justification, the RFT model is also empirically verified: its effectiveness in the research on emotional processing and the promotion of emotional development has already been confirmed (Cvetek M. 2013; Ferčak 2013), as well as problems such as, for example, separation (Simonič 2015; Simonič and Rijavec Klobučar 2017), addiction to alcohol and psychoactive substances (Dular 2012; Jerebic 2013; Trtnik 2016), emotional regulation (Kreš 2016, Cvetek M. 2013), sexual abuse (Jerebic 2016; Repič 2008), depression (Stvarnik 2017), physical punishment (Poljak Lukek 2011), mourning (Pate 2015), postpartum depression (Tisovec 2016), etc. For this reason, we expect relational family therapy to be effective in the treatment of violence, focusing primarily on physical and sexual violence, since clinical experience shows that consequences and resolution of these are the most difficult and complex, and require holistic treatment of an individual, his patterns, and the dynamics in which he is trapped. Successful therapeutic processing also includes a deep insight into individual's relationships, including intergenerational emotional transmissions (Gostečnik 2009, 2015, 2016). To this end, we will focus mainly on three areas:

a. Transgenerational transmission of the trauma of violence (the occurrence of violence within several family generations and the ineffectiveness of its resolution; individual's relational history and dynamics, his system and relations).

b. Efficiency and effectiveness of RFT: individual problems and power (the expression of negative affects, the lack of inhibition of strong impulses, life functioning, openness of self-expression, flexibility and resilience (physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility) and the ability of self-control (impulsiveness, simple tasks, risk behaviour, physical activity, self-centeredness and temperament), experiencing and implementing violence in relationships, body self-image, boundaries.

BEFORE therapeutic process: MORE individual problems with: expressing negative affects, strong impulses, life functioning, self-expression, flexibility and resilience, substance abuse and self-esteem; MORE problems in regulating aggression (physical and verbal), anger and hostility; MORE problems with self-control; INAPPROPRIATE experiencing and implementing violence in relationships; LOW body self-image; LACK of boundaries in relationships.

AFTER therapeutic process: LESS individual problems with: expressing negative affects, strong impulses, life functioning, self-expression, flexibility and resilience, substance abuse and self-esteem; LESS problems in regulating aggression (physical and verbal), anger and hostility; LESS problems with self-control; APPROPRIATE experiencing of violence and no tolerance to violence in relationships; BETER and HIGHER body self-image; SETTING healthy boundaries in relationships.

c. Exploration of key interventions and changes in the RFT process in the treatment of physical and sexual violence.

Researchers

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The phases of the project and their realization

The research project will take three years. It will be organized within two research institutions, including significant Slovenian researchers in the field of marital and family therapy. The project leader already has management experience, so the realization of the project's activities and objectives will be enabled. Besides the leader, six other researchers will participate in the project. In addition to scientific research capabilities, as shown in numerous publications of scientific articles and presentation of papers, the leader and all other researchers are also highly skilled in expert psychotherapeutic work with spouses, couples and families: five of them have already obtained their PhDs in marital and family therapy, and one is a doctoral candidate. Their theses cover the family and interpersonal relations. At the Association of Marital and Family Therapists of Slovenia, all of them obtained the title of therapist, some also that of supervisor and teacher. All researches have 10 to 20 years of continuous clinical work experience according to the psychotherapeutic model of the Relational Family Therapy. Their professional competence in the sphere of marital and family therapy further confirms their qualifications for the implementation of the proposed research project, as well as ensures the ethics of the research, as researchers are obliged, within the scope of their professional activity, to comply with the research principles determined by the ethical codes of domestic and international therapeutic associations of which they are members.

The project will follow the basic principles of project management. At the beginning, a detailed work plan will be prepared, and tasks and responsibilities will be transparently distributed among the members of the project group. Depending on the application, a detailed timetable for the project will be prepared, including important milestones. The achievement of goals will be monitored promptly, all necessary steps will be taken to address potential problems and backlogs. All members will regularly report on their work, and the project manager will also be responsible for preparing annual reports to the financier and for the final report.

At regular monthly meetings of the research group, the plan of work and distribution of tasks and responsibilities will be prepared. Internal seminars will be organized to share work results and experiences.

Year 1: The first year of the project will be aimed primarily at acquiring sufficiently broad theoretical bases related to the process of resolving physical and sexual violence, and at the same time at preparing the empirical research. Depending on the distributed tasks and responsibilities, the members of the research team will each examine their broader theoretical starting points related to the process of resolving physical and sexual violence and study existing domestic and foreign research related to the selected topic. At regular monthly meetings, they will check their findings and their relevance among themselves when they present their work to other members and receive their responses. As a result of this period, they will specify more concrete starting points for further empirical research (preparation of measuring instruments and procedures), as well as the beginning of empirical research (data collection with questionnaires and implementation and monitoring of therapeutic processes). The results of the theoretical studies will be presented in the form of scientific reviews, contributions at domestic and foreign scientific conferences (e.g. annual international congress of the Association of Marital and Family Therapists, etc.)

Year 2: In the second year of the project, group members will continue their research work, focusing primarily on empirical research with qualitative and quantitative methods of research. Depending on the area or tasks assigned to them in the first year, they will collect data with appropriate procedures and measuring instruments in the first half of the year, as well as in the second half of the year, if necessary. In the second half of the year, the analysis, i.e. data processing with quantitative (statistical analysis) and qualitative research methods will be carried out. Monthly meetings of the project team will continue. Partial results will be presented in the form of scientific contributions at domestic and foreign scientific conferences.

Year 3: In the third, final year of the project, our focus will be on the interpretation of the acquired data and on overall conclusions according to the project's expected objectives. We will report on the results in empirical scientific articles, which will be sent for publication in renowned indexed magazines at home and abroad. The research group will organize a scientific conference on the field of research (the process of resolving physical and sexual violence from the point of view of the RFT paradigm), where the results will be presented to the general public, and at the same time, with the participation of other researchers and experts, there will be a comparison between our findings and other current views. We will prepare a scientific publication where the members of the research group will publish their findings as independent scientific compositions, while at the same time all the findings of the research in this field will be synthesized in the proceedings.

The milestones of the activities mentioned above:

Milestone #1: from the beginning to the 6th month Regular monthly meetings of all members of the research group will focus on the preparation of the work plan and the distribution of tasks. Each member will get their own area to explore wider theoretical starting points related to the process of coping with the consequences of physical and sexual violence. They will study domestic and foreign literature and related research. Prepared and collected materials will be reported and reflected on at the meetings. Members will write comprehensive scientific articles. We will start to prepare the concept of empirical research, i.e. preparation of questionnaires or measuring instruments and data collection procedures.

Milestone #2: from month 6 to 12 Therapy sessions will start, where clients will fill out the questionnaires at the very beginning. During therapeutic process, therapists, who will also be members of the research team, will keep their notes; attend regular supervision where the progress and crucial changes in RFT will be evaluated; and conduct an in-depth interview. Simultaneously, questionnaires will be distributed and quantitative data will be collected in a randomly selected group of general population. At the annual International Congress of Marital and Family Therapists of Slovenia, theoretical starting points for various dimensions of physical and sexual violence will be presented, which will then be examined by the research team members.

Milestone #3: from month 12 to 18 Research following Milestone #2 will primarily focus on empirical research with qualitative and quantitative research methods. Depending on the area or tasks assigned to them in the first year, the researchers will collect data in the first half of the year and, if necessary, in the second half, by means of appropriate procedures and measuring instruments. The clients who will have completed the therapy will fulfil the questionnaires which they have received at the beginning. The processing of the interviews by means of phenomenological approach will begin; the clients will be dealt with as case studies.

Research Area #1 - Transgenerational transmission of the trauma of violence: acquiring participants and conducting in-depth interviews for the analysis of trauma transmission contents, focusing primarily on the emergence of violence among family generations and the ineffectiveness of its resolution, on the relational history and dynamics of the individual, their system and relationships.

Research Area #2 - Efficiency and effectiveness of RFT: Implementation and monitoring of therapeutic processes, distribution and processing of questionnaires at the beginning and after the end of therapy, which will show if and in which areas progress has been made. According to the RFT model, a therapeutic cycle takes 3 months and includes 12 regular weekly one-hour meetings.

Research Area #3 - Exploring key interventions and changes in the RFT process: the analysis of notes at regular supervisory meetings and coding of interviews will show which interventions were crucial and what are the main changes that have occurred.

Milestone #4: from month 18 to 24 Data collection, completion of therapeutic processes, and distribution of questionnaires will continue. At the same time, the collected data will already be processed with quantitative (statistical analysis with the SPSS program - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and qualitative research methods (established theory, content analysis, case study).

Milestone #5: from month 24 to 30 Presentation of the partial results of the research of various dimensions of the RFT process and physical and sexual violence at the annual international scientific congress of the Slovenian Association of Marital and Family Therapists. Interpretation of analysed data; preparation of empirical scientific articles for publication in domestic and foreign scientific journals.

Milestone #6: from month 30 to 35 Organization of a scientific symposium on the processing of physical and sexual violence within Relational Family Therapy, where other domestic and foreign authors and members of the research group will be able to participate with the presentation of papers from the research work within the project. Publication of the book with scientific proceedings, which will synthesize the results of the entire research work. In independent scientific articles, the members of the research team will present the findings that will refer to their field of research within the topics of the research project. The proceedings will be an important reference point for research and professional work with individuals and families who try to cope with the consequences of physical and sexual violence.

Milestone #7: from month 35 to 36 Preparation of the summary final report, completion of the project.

*Because the project proposal is not fully financed, we will carry out the quantitative part of the research (questionnaires), while qualitative methods of research will be shortened. We will shorten the research in the third work package (research on pivotal interventions and changes in the RDT process), if necessary. In doing so the principal investigator of the project will seek to implement the key segments of the project.

Citations for bibliographic records

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