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PROGRAMME FOR RECOVERY
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SIX GOALS TOWARDS HEALING
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Define and understand Post-Abortion Syndrome/Stress
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Determine personal post abortion reaction triggers i.e. connectors
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Identify hurts and judgements i.e. contributes
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Restore broken relationships
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Establish a relationship with the aborted child
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Learn to use self-help programmes
TEN STAGES OF POST-ABORTION RECOVERY
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Step 1:
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The Pre-Pregnant Woman:
looks at the person’s life, relationships, world view... before she became pregnant.
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Step 2:
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The Pregnancy:
highlights the circumstances, emotions, reactions... of the person and others around the time of her pregnancy.
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Step 3:
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The Abortion Decision:
explores the personal needs, values, other influences on the person that contributed to her abortion decision.
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Step 4:
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The Abortion:
examines the pre-op and operation procedures, and the woman’s adjustment immediately afterwards.
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Step 5:
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The Accommodation Stage:
explores more fully how the woman integrated the abortion into herself and her life, blunting of emotional affect, denial... and symptoms that may have manifested soon after.
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Step 6:
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Hurts:
identifies people involved in the abortion decision, and whose actions or judgements caused hurts.
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Step 7:
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Anger:
looks at the emotional responses of the person to the hurts, especially anger.
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Step 8:
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Forgiveness:
addresses forgiveness issues - God, others, the baby, as well as forgiveness of self...
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Step 9:
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The Baby:
focuses on the aborted child, now the accepted child... a memorial service and/or ways of remembering are considered
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Step 10:
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Carrying on
with Life after the Abortion:
tools for living; relationships with self, others, God; outreach
therapy - empowering the
person to help themselves by helping others.
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Some of the main tasks throughout these steps include:
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Working with defence-coping mechanisms and breaking through denial
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Dealing with issues of guilt and forgiveness
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Grieving the loss of the aborted child
REFERENCES:
1.
Facilitator Guidebook for Post Abortion Syndrome Recovery
,
Victims of
Choice
, Inc, PO Box 815, Naperville, IL, USA 60566 0815, 1996
HEALING AFTER ABORTION
Each person’s abortion experience is unique, significant and valid
and each person's journey through healing towards wholeness is
individual.
Abortion
is never an isolated event and needs to be considered
in
the context of the whole person and their life.
It is important when assessing the stress reaction in women (or men) to an abortion, that it is the individual’s perceptions of the experience and the meaning of aspects for them personally that are significant. Expressed symptoms are real and need to be acknowledged, addressed and worked through therapeutically for healing and recovery to occur.
Women who are adversely affected by their abortion experiences are often labelled ‘dysfunctional’. Most do not realise their reactions and feelings are normal for what they have undergone and experienced, and that there are others with similar experiences.
High stress post-abortive women and men are often reluctant to avail themselves of social support for fear of condemnation by others… they feel equally unable to express their desire to grieve with those who support their choice, due to fear (or actual experience) of being told that there is nothing to grieve.
Not uncommon from these sources come reprisals for having chosen a course that led them to grieve, or defensiveness by those who may feel implicated for supporting a decision that has caused distress.
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The P.A.T.H.S. healing work focuses on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects. For those with post-abortion distress the support offered deals with the initial shock or distress, denial or grief and other immediate issues.
For those with Post-Abortion Stress/Syndrome working through the Ten Step Recovery Programme
can help them to come to terms with the reality of what happened in the abortion, their own
reactions, the effect on relationships and impact on their lives, and grow to
come to a place of acceptance and greater peace, and renewed functioning and
fuller life.
The hurts a woman or man may hold from an abortion experience, are often part of a myriad of other hurts. In dealing with abortion hurts a person is often confronted with the need to look at other areas of herself and her life, especially past traumas or grief. Ongoing counselling with a trained professional may be needed.
The person accompanying a person on a healing journey after an abortion experience, provides a sense of safety and trust, offering warm acceptance, genuine respect and understanding.
For those who come for help following an abortion experience
the primary needs are the need to be heard,
to be accepted and to not be judged.
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REFERENCES:
1.
Complicated Mourning: Dynamics of Impacted Post Abortion Grief
, Anne Speckhard, PhD, and Vincent Rue, PhD, Pre- and Perinatal Psychology Journal, 1992
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Recovery and Healing
