Application, Usage, and Effectiveness of Testimony Therapy on Survivors of Violence

Abstract

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Experiences of violence and torture have been a reality for a vast majority of powerless, marginalised people, on account of their caste, class, gender, ethnicity, and so on. Testimonial therapy is a recently originated, brief psychosocial intervention attempting to minimise and ameliorate the deleterious impact of perpetration of violence on the mental and physical health and well-being of the victims. The present paper looks into the relevance, process, usage, and effectiveness of testimonial therapy, through the analysis of secondary literature and empirical data gathered from the counsellors practicing therapy and survivors of trauma receiving therapy. Findings show that testimonial therapy has significant positive outcomes for the survivors of torture, in terms of reduction in anger, pain, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders, and improvement in their social functioning. Other than its therapeutic role, testimony therapy has been used as a tool to seek justice, advocacy, and mobilisation to raise a voice against the violation of rights of Dalits and marginalised communities. Suggestions are provided on the usage and application of the therapy.

Keywords: Torture, Trauma, Testimonial Therapy, Survivors, Health, Well-Being

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