The Effectiveness of Brief Counseling Services for Battered Women

This study examines the effectiveness of two types of social work counseling services offered to battered women, using a comparative treatment groups design. One group of 10 battered women received standardized crisis intervention servicesfollowed by eight sessions of counseling based on a grief resolution orientation, whereas a second group of 10 clients received feminist-oriented counseling following crisis intervention. Participants were randomly assigned. Overall, the 20 battered women reported improved self-esteem, self-efficacy, and more positive attitudes toward feminism. However, these improvements were found to have occurred primarily among the clients receiving grief-resolution-oriented counseling, not among those receiving feminist counseling. Areas for future research on social work practice in this area are discussed.