Stalking, a problem behaviour and a form of violent crime, can lead to devastating consequences for stalking victims and for perpetrators themselves. Legal measures prove in most cases not sufficient, as the issues underlying stalking are not being resolved. Timely psychological and psychotherapeutic intervention for both sides can lead to stalking termination and prevent further damage. Interdisciplinary approaches to stalking require that the clinicians move beyond a narrow focus of psychopathology to wider perspectives involving developmental, social, psychological and situational roots of stalking and coping with its consequences. Practice shows that these approaches offer nourishing grounds for successful interventions and positive outcomes.
This symposium will focus on special treatment challenges specific to stalking and practicable solutions arising from the interdisciplinary paradigm. The first presentation (Hundahl) will deal with methodological considerations in connection with therapeutic treatment for both the offenders, with focus on strengthening mentalisation and affect regulation, and victims, with focus on remedying PTSD symptoms and enhancing the functional performance of the patients. The second speaker (Lühr) will highlight how scheme therapy as evolution of CBT can offer efficient tools in treatment of stalking victims. The last speakers (Ortiz-Müller, Olga Siepelmeyer) will concentrate on the therapeutic dialectics between the process oriented work and confrontation with the problem behaviour in psychotherapeutic counselling of stalking offenders. They will also present the results of the evaluation of the counselling outcomes.