Pro-Choice Post-Abortion Counseling Programs: Difference between revisions
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:"Pro-choice activists have come to embrace the idea that many women who've had abortions can benefit from non-ideological counseling. So why are the groups that provide such counseling having so much trouble raising money?" | :"Pro-choice activists have come to embrace the idea that many women who've had abortions can benefit from non-ideological counseling. So why are the groups that provide such counseling having so much trouble raising money?" | ||
:"Since 2002, Exhale has served 15,000 women on its hotline, and while Emerge is a local group that has reached only a few dozen people, pro-choice groups across the country are using it as a model for new post-abortion counseling services, Madsen says." | :"Since 2002, Exhale has served 15,000 women on its hotline, and while Emerge is a local group that has reached only a few dozen people, pro-choice groups across the country are using it as a model for new post-abortion counseling services, Madsen says." | ||
*[http://ct.counseling.org/2013/01/bringing-abortion-aftercare-into-the-21st-century Bringing abortion aftercare into the 21st century] Trudy M. Johnson. Counseling Today. Jan. 1, 2013 | |||
:An excellent article from a pro-choice perspective asking counselors to recognize disenfranchised grief issues following abortion and to provide necessary services regardless of political beliefs. | |||
===Efficacy of Post-Abortion Treatment=== | ===Efficacy of Post-Abortion Treatment=== | ||
SD Layer, C Roberts, K Wild, J Walters. Postabortion Grief: Evaluating the Possible Efficacy of a Spiritual Group Intervention. Research on Social Work Practice, Vol. 14, No. 5, 344-350 (2004) | SD Layer, C Roberts, K Wild, J Walters. Postabortion Grief: Evaluating the Possible Efficacy of a Spiritual Group Intervention. Research on Social Work Practice, Vol. 14, No. 5, 344-350 (2004) | ||
Objective: Although not every woman is negatively affected by an abortion, researchers have identified a subgroup of women susceptible to grief and trauma. The primary providers for postabortion grief (PAG) groups are community faith-based agencies. Principle features of PAG are shame and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Method: This study measured the efficacy of a spiritually based grief group intervention for women grieving an abortion. Thirty-five women completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised(IES-R) and the Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) pre- and postintervention along with posttest open-ended questions. Results: Postintervention measures indicated significant decrease in shame (p < .000) and PTSD symptoms (p < .002). More than 80% reported their religious beliefs and the spiritual intervention played a strong to very strong role in the group. Conclusion: Social workers need to screen for PAG with a postabortive woman and when appropriate refer her to agencies offering such groups. | Objective: Although not every woman is negatively affected by an abortion, researchers have identified a subgroup of women susceptible to grief and trauma. The primary providers for postabortion grief (PAG) groups are community faith-based agencies. Principle features of PAG are shame and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Method: This study measured the efficacy of a spiritually based grief group intervention for women grieving an abortion. Thirty-five women completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised(IES-R) and the Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) pre- and postintervention along with posttest open-ended questions. Results: Postintervention measures indicated significant decrease in shame (p < .000) and PTSD symptoms (p < .002). More than 80% reported their religious beliefs and the spiritual intervention played a strong to very strong role in the group. Conclusion: Social workers need to screen for PAG with a postabortive woman and when appropriate refer her to agencies offering such groups. | ||
Revision as of 11:16, 26 August 2013
This Listing of Groups and Resources Is Provided for Research Purposes Only and Does NOT Imply Any Kind of Endorsement or Recommendation
Significance of Post-Abortion Programs Sponsored by Pro-Choice Advocates
While most pro-abortion groups deny that there are significant emotional risks associated with abortion, that view is undermined by the fact that even pro-choice advocates have discovered a need to address powerful negative reactions to abortion among themselves and their friends and in their communities.
Some pro-abortion advocates, seek to deny on one hand and affirm on the other. For example, Brenda Major was the lead author of the APA position paper denying significant emotional effects associated with abortion, but she is also on the advisory board of Exhale, a pro-choice group that offer post-abortion counseling for women struggling with grief, guilt, substance abuse and other mental health problems following their abortions.
For other information about pro-choice advocates who are addressing the abortion mental health issue with denial or dismissive comments, see Nada L. Stotland
Groups and Resources with a Pro-Choice Slant
- Exhale
- Peace After Abortion
- Being at peace with choices
- Healthy coping after an abortion from the Abortion Conversation Project.
- Project Voice] oral history project
- Inner Healing After Abortion
- Imagine Counseling
- Terra Wise does pro-choice post-abortion work in Santa Barbara, California.
- Emerge: Sharing Our Voices, Supporting Our Choices]
Books on Post-Abortion Healing With a Pro-Choice Slant
The Healing Choice: Your Guide to Emotional Recovery after an Abortion Candace De Puy, Ph.D., M.S.W. and Dana Dovitch, PH.D., M.F.C.C., Simon & Schuster, 1997
Experiencing Abortion: A Weaving of Women’s Words
Eve Kushner, Harrington Park Press, 1997
Peace after Abortion
Ava Torre-Bueno, Pimpernel Press, 1997
Articles Related to Post-Abortion Healing from a Pro-Choice Perspective
- The Abortion Counseling Conundrum Dana Goldstein | June 30, 2008
- "Pro-choice activists have come to embrace the idea that many women who've had abortions can benefit from non-ideological counseling. So why are the groups that provide such counseling having so much trouble raising money?"
- "Since 2002, Exhale has served 15,000 women on its hotline, and while Emerge is a local group that has reached only a few dozen people, pro-choice groups across the country are using it as a model for new post-abortion counseling services, Madsen says."
- Bringing abortion aftercare into the 21st century Trudy M. Johnson. Counseling Today. Jan. 1, 2013
- An excellent article from a pro-choice perspective asking counselors to recognize disenfranchised grief issues following abortion and to provide necessary services regardless of political beliefs.
Efficacy of Post-Abortion Treatment
SD Layer, C Roberts, K Wild, J Walters. Postabortion Grief: Evaluating the Possible Efficacy of a Spiritual Group Intervention. Research on Social Work Practice, Vol. 14, No. 5, 344-350 (2004) Objective: Although not every woman is negatively affected by an abortion, researchers have identified a subgroup of women susceptible to grief and trauma. The primary providers for postabortion grief (PAG) groups are community faith-based agencies. Principle features of PAG are shame and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Method: This study measured the efficacy of a spiritually based grief group intervention for women grieving an abortion. Thirty-five women completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised(IES-R) and the Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) pre- and postintervention along with posttest open-ended questions. Results: Postintervention measures indicated significant decrease in shame (p < .000) and PTSD symptoms (p < .002). More than 80% reported their religious beliefs and the spiritual intervention played a strong to very strong role in the group. Conclusion: Social workers need to screen for PAG with a postabortive woman and when appropriate refer her to agencies offering such groups.