Session 5A and 5B is dedicated to trauma or storytelling as an integrative tool, as well as to detoxify shame. Addressing trauma is not issuing a licence to perpetrate violence, but to rather alleviate possible underlying feelings of unresolved issues and hurts that may have metamorphosed into feelings of anger, hatred and resentment.
Offenders often have anger towards others (e.g., unforgiveness) and themselves (e.g., self-loathing) as a result of traumatic events. Thus, there is a section on forgiveness which may also be conducive to self-regulation. While not all individuals who abuse an intimate partner come from hostile childhoods, trauma is a universal phenomenon.
Apart from collective trauma, all of us will have experienced trauma by the time we reach adulthood in one way or another. Be it the loss of employment, the loss of a loved one, contending with a life threatening illness, being involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, or falling prey to crimes such as rape, a carjacking, housebreaking and theft.
