Posttraumatic Growth During Incarceration: A Case Study From an Experiential–Existential Perspective

Abstract

Life after a traumatic experience is never easy. This is certainly the case for victims. For many offenders, committing a crime might be a traumatic experience as well, and incarceration may confront them even more with the consequences of their deeds. Humanistic therapies are very suitable for encouraging clients to embark on an explicit meaning-making process. In this article, we explore with a case study how experiential-existential therapy can foster meaning making and posttraumatic growth in prisoners. With Diana, we started with identifying her global meanings, which had been threatened by her own actions. The therapy offered her a safe nonjudgmental space where she could learn to explore all aspects of the crime she committed and its consequences. By processing her past in an experiential mode, she generated new meanings about herself, about others and about the meaning and purpose of her own life. Diana found new ways to meet her basic existential needs. She developed a more nuanced set of meanings and a richer pallet of coping skills that enable her to live her life in a more meaningful and in a better adjusted way.

Structural Family Therapy With Incarcerated Families

“…More recently, researchers have explored how experiential-existential therapy can be used with prisoners. Utilizing a case study application, Vanhooren, Leigssen, and Dezutter (2018) explored how this mode of therapy can “foster meaning making and posttraumatic growth in prisoners” (p. 144).…”

Into the Wild, Out of the Woods: A Systematic Case Study on Facilitating Emotional Change

“…EFT has been shown to be effective in addressing the underlying and dysfunctional processes for many psychological problems and disorders: depression (Watson, Gordon, Stermac, Kalogerakos, & Steckley, 2003), anxiety (Watson & Greenberg, 2017), and complex trauma (Paivio & Pascual-Leone, 2010). Although experiential approaches and EFT have been integrated in forensic practice (Gunst, 2012; Vanhooren, Leijssen, & Dezutter, 2018), there is little research evaluating its effectiveness. One study (Pascual-Leone, Bierman, Arnold, & Stasiak, 2011) found that participants abstained longer from violent reoffenses.…”

Coping Strategies and Posttraumatic Growth in Prison

“…Being listened to by others helps a person work through the emotional elements of the distressing event and to create new narratives and meanings (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). In the qualitative studies on posttraumatic growth, the experience of a therapeutic relationship was found to be highly corrective and transformative for offenders (Ferrito et al, 2012;Mapham & Hefferon, 2012;van Ginneken, 2016;Vanhooren et al, 2015Vanhooren et al, , 2017b This experience helped them find new ways to connect with themselves, with people outside the therapy, and led to posttraumatic growth.…”

“…Recently, qualitative studies have described posttraumatic growth as a profound shift in how offenders and prisoners experience themselves, the others, and the world as a result of processing a loss of meaning induced by crime and imprisonment (Elisha et al, 2013;Ferrito et al, 2012;Guse & Hudson, 2014;Mapham & Hefferon, 2012;van Ginneken, 2016;Vanhooren et al, 2015;Leijssen & Dezutter, 2017b). Similar to the general population, these qualitative studies found strategies such as emotional coping, religious coping, and searching for meaning to be supportive of the process that leads to posttraumatic growth.…”