In this way, she learns to control fear and she attempts to interrupt the avoidance behavior. The stress inoculation program may be used in individual therapy or in a group therapy for rape victims. The latter has several advantages, which will be discussed in the cognitive therapy section. The rape victim can benefit greatly from cognitive therapy, especially in dealing with self-blame, anxiety attacks and some aspects of sleep disturbances. A woman who feels guilty and blames herself probably has some problems with attributions and appraisals.
Anxiety attacks signify some distortion of expectations and appraisals.
With these problems, the therapist may deal at the cognitive level. He may explain how and why fear and anxiety develop following the rape, why the victim tries to attribute the blame to herself, and why her automatic thoughts are inappropriate. The therapist, together with the patient, tries to find other solutions, other ways to cope with her anxiety attacks. The patient may learn new coping skills to deal with her problems. Coping imagery may be used to reduce severity of anxiety attacks and sleep disturbances.