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Mission and Accomplishments
In 2023 five new people joined Aftermath as volunteers, freely giving their time and talents to help the Foundation fulfill its Mission this year. Our Mission statement, which has been used to guide our efforts and measure our success again this year, essentially remains the same since the Foundation was formed.
Aftermath Mission
The Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy Foundation is dedicated to educating the public regarding the nature of psychopathy and its cost to individuals and society. We seek to support the families and victims of those with psychopathy. We support research that aims to: prevent or minimize the development of psychopathic traits, reduce the impact of psychopathic traits, and understand and treat the aftermath of psychopathy. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the negative impact of psychopathy on the families and victims of psychopathic individuals.
Educating the Public
This year the Foundation reached out to people around the world through our bimonthly newsletter, website, and a podcast. Again, this year volunteers wrote summaries, updated a frequently asked question, and interviewed experts, among other things.
Research on psychopathy: In 2023 Aftermath Foundation volunteers and psychopathy experts summarized journal articles, posters, and symposium talks (presented at the SSSP conference, 2022), as well as updating a frequently asked question (FAQ), to help people understand the nature of psychopathy. The articles, posters and talks examined topics such as 1) cyber dating abuse; 2) psychopathy and ASPD and anti-social behavior after 50; 3) mimicry-deception theory; 4) post-traumatic growth and workplace psychopathy; and 5) abusive experiences, adaptive coping and being in a romantic relationship with a person with psychopathy, as well as other topics. The FAQ that was updated examines the differences between psychopathy, sociopathy, and narcissism.
Experts share their knowledge: Dr. Cynthia Mathieu answered six questions via video for “Ask the Expert”. Two of these questions she answered were, 1) What should someone who is working with a psychopathic co-worker or boss do to manage their problems with such individuals? and 2) What should victims or survivors know about her research?
Special presentations by psychopathy experts: Two “web conversations” took place this year, first between Dr. Kosson and Dr. Mary Ellen O’Toole and then later between Dr. Kosson and Dr. Jackie Helfgott. Dr. O’Toole spoke about her work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) analyzing crime scenes and using her knowledge about psychopathy to identify any psychopathic traits perpetrators may have had, among other things. Dr. Helfgott spoke about the history and relevance of psychopathy in criminology and criminal justice.
Also, this year Dr. Dave Kosson spoke with Brent Franson on the Most Days podcast about the nature of psychopathy, answering questions such as: “What is the difference between a psychopath versus a sociopath?” and “What are the causes of psychopathy?”
See the Research Committee report for more information on the research summaries, updated FAQ, “Ask the Expert” posts, web conversations, and podcast.
Support for Families and Victims
Forum: In 2023 the Foundation continued to host a survivors’ forum on the website, which is maintained by Aftermath moderators to ensure people are safe on the website and people that have been in abusive relationships with individuals with psychopathic traits are able to post content to help others.
Using the forum is a great way to connect with other survivors and share your experiences. Click here to visit the Forum.
Helping Survivors Find Resources: Also, this year the Help Committee volunteers continued assisting people that contacted the Foundation for help by trying to answer questions a survivor may have to help them on their road to recovery. In addition, if a survivor was looking for resources about psychopathy, we tried to assist them with that, including looking for mental health professionals who understand psychopathy and who can meet a person’s specific needs. In 2023, we received 68 requests for help. Click here for Help Committee report.
This year we created a survey to find out how helpful our Foundation has been for survivors who visit our website. We are currently revising the survey, and we would love to hear your feedback when it is on the website again.
Survivors Support Group: In addition, in 2023, volunteers held a pilot support group for survivors for the first time online. The group met for six weeks every other week. The participants reported that the group was very helpful to them so the committee is planning to hold more support groups in the future.
