Clinical training to address overlooked post-abortion trauma, healing

By Renée St. Martin Wizeman

In the midst of the strident rhetoric that so often typifies the “abortion debate,” a significant aspect of the reality of abortion is overlooked. Abortion not only kills babies, it also wounds those involved in procuring, undergoing or providing the abortion.

This doesn’t seem like a revolutionary idea, but judging by the reaction Theresa Burke, PhD, LPC, NCP, has sometimes encountered, it can be incredibly unsettling for people to face, whether they identify themselves as pro-life or pro-choice, whether they have experienced an abortion themselves or not.

Burke, who is the co-founder of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries, a post-abortion healing outreach ministry, has spent the past 20 years addressing the denial and resistance that surrounds post-abortion trauma. And on Sept. 25 and 26, she and her husband and co-founder, Kevin Burke, MSS, LSW, will bring their experience and expertise to the Pregnancy Loss and Unresolved Grief clinical trainings in Billings and Missoula.

During a recent interview, Burke explained that the opening chapter of her book Forbidden Grief recounts how she came to post-abortion counseling. She was facilitating an eating disorder group, during which one of the women in the group brought up her abortion. As the group discussion progressed, it became evident that nearly every group member had had an abortion. Burke said her supervisor later informed her that she had no business prying into people’s abortions and she was not to speak about abortion in the group again.
Burke was so angered by his reaction that she stopped her work with the eating disorder group and started the first therapeutic group for abortion healing.

“I just knew that women were hurting and being dismissed by the mental health community,” she said.

In working with post-abortive patients, Burke has seen how their abortions leave them with emotional triggers, which in turn lead to nightmares, flashbacks, eating disorders, self-abuse and suicide attempts.

The fact that so many in the medical and mental health communities ignore or even deny the reality of post-abortion trauma is admittedly perplexing, particularly when weighed against the common use of surgical abortion (in 2002, over 850,000 abortions were performed in the United States, and 2,248 in Montana, as noted in the Center for Disease Control’s November 2005 Abortion Surveillance Report).

Burke said that in the 1980s, some would point to then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s assertion that he didn’t believe in post-abortion trauma as proof that it didn’t warrant inquiry. However, Burke noted that this was a misrepresentation of what he actually said: that the existing evidence was flawed, and he recommended millions of dollars in research specific to the psychological effects of abortion. But such research has yet to happen.

Burke believes that the tremendous resistance to post-abortion trauma stems from several possible sources. Those in the mental health community have their own unresolved issues, possibly including personal involvement in abortion. In this scenario, these individuals may experience their own emotional trigger if a client speaks about abortion. Others may have referred clients to abortion providers or taken a staunch political position on abortion.

“If you endorse something [such as abortion], you can’t admit it’s hurting people,” she said.

Additionally, there is a lack of awareness and training for medical and mental health personnel.

“There is no training whatsoever to recognize this as the trauma it is, within the mental health community,” Burke said, “and the medical community carries it out, so they’re not going to acknowledge the need for post-abortive counseling.”

And the political aspects of abortion only add to the confusion and denial, leaving post-abortive women and men on their own, without support.

“The politics of abortion make men and women suffer much longer; the focus goes on the political experience, rather than the emotional experience. Thus, women and men can’t get the help they need, and there’s a stigma attached to their experience.

“Pro-choice advocates send sentiments that there’s nothing to it, nothing left in terms of hurting, so get over it.

“Pro-life advocates can give a judgmental aspect, ‘What do you expect, you killed your baby, I’m not giving you sympathy.’

“Because of the politics, post-abortion trauma is not recognized as an actual condition; it ends up being easier to get treatment for eating disorders or some other trauma,” she noted.

Despite the current climate of denial and resistance, there is hope and help for post-abortive women and men. Through the Rachel’s Vineyard retreats, as well as clinical trainings such as those on Sept. 25 and 26, the word is spreading about post-abortion trauma and healing.

“Rachel’s Vineyard wouldn’t spread all over the world if there wasn’t a need; there are 450 retreats this year from Alaska to Florida. Typically the retreats are organized by women that have experienced the healing and want to extend that to other women and men. People are trying to respond to a need that is going unaddressed. Women will often feel that they are an anomaly, because of what they’re experiencing. And it is very liberating to find that they are not crazy and that they can do something about it,” Burke said.

The clinical training will offer specific skills for mental health professionals, social workers, nurses, clergy, women religious, parish and pastoral care ministers, school counselors, teachers and the general public.

“We want to educate the community because everyone knows somebody or will encounter someone that is struggling with suicidal thoughts and feelings and we want to empower people to ask ‘Is there a pregnancy loss?’ ” Burke explained.

During the day-long training, post-abortion trauma and grief symptoms, traumatic re-enactment, and post traumatic stress disorder as related to pregnancy loss will be covered. Additionally, participants will learn more about Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries so they can feel comfortable referring others to it.

Kevin Burke will address post-abortive men and how they process their grief and the symptoms they experience. The training will offer networking opportunities for those currently involved or interested in post-abortion healing.

“People will learn a lot, and walk away with a great deal of compassion for post-abortive men and women and their suffering. They’ll have a new way to view the problem and will be equipped to deal with the issue,” Burke said.

For more information, visit Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries at www.rachelsvineyard.org or www.catholicsocialservicesofmontana.org.
Another post-abortion resource is the Stacy Zallie Foundation at www.stacyzallie.org.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 22, No. 9, September 18, 2006.