There are services available for both the victim and offender in stalking situations that provide relief and also treatment; for victims one of the biggest services is that of counseling and mental health care, approximately one-third of all stalking victims seek some sort of mental health counseling (Diehl, 1993), this may be voluntary or suggested by the courts either way it is an effective way in handling the long term effects stalking has by reintegrating to the victim that the stalking was not their fault, teaching them valuable coping mechanisms and techniques, and if they are seeing a psychiatrist being prescribed medication to help with the symptoms of depression, anxiety, or another mental illness as a result of the stalking. Victims …show more content…
The main treatment for non-mentally ill stalkers, and the second stage of treatment for those who are ill, is psychological intervention, which is different from psychiatric care as focuses more on the stalkers personality attributes and attitudes that cause the maladaptive behavior with the aim of correcting it. There is a simple process, which is used to help the stalker adopt better social behavior; the first stage called the pre-contemplation stage is used to teach the stalker that their behavior is in fact problematic, usually by understanding the impact their stalking had on the victim and comparing the goal of the stalking when they started to the “actual outcome, in relation to both their own situation and to the impact on the victim, can be used as a means of showing stalkers the futility of their endeavor” (Mackenzie et