Learned Helplessness: Implications and Applications

behavior and discovered in his research that dogs that had received unavoidable electric shocks failed to take action in subsequent situations (Nolen, 2015). The experiment was replicated with human samples, using loud noise as opposed to electric shock, yielding similar result.
Seligman called the behavior as “learned helplessness”, describing it as the conditioned expectation that an outcome from a situation is not changeable nor avoidable. The theory has been applied not just to women showing the battered syndrome, but to many situations and behaviors. These include depression, aging, domestic violence, discrimination, parenting, academic achievement, drug abuse and alcoholism (Nolen, 2015).

The second theory was developed by Dr.

Without the use of trauma-specific therapy techniques, a battered woman may be unable to move past barriers that make it more difficult for her to deal with her situation. Thus, focusing on the external trauma triggers, rather than on her own internal issues, will help heal a battered woman symptoms (Walker, 2009).
Typical trauma triggers include the memory of the way the batterer’s face or eyes look when he begins his abuse, the curse words he shouts, a particular phrase he uses to demean or humiliate, or even the aftershave he uses or other odors he emits during the abuse. Startle responses and hypervigilance to cues of violence are the last symptoms of BWS to be extinguished. In many women, these cues or trauma triggers never totally go away. This sensitivity can interfere with new relationships. It is often necessary to help a new intimate partner develop patience and understanding to save the new relationship, provided that it is non abusive. Despite the myth that women often go from one abusive relationship to another, statistics suggest that fewer than 10% of all battered women do so. Battered woman symptoms may reoccur even after recovery if a new stressor or trauma is experienced. Some women