Exploring Mental Health Professionals’ Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence–Related Training: Results From a Global Survey

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052090802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha C. Burns ◽  
Cary S. Kogan ◽  
Richard E. Heyman ◽  
Heather M. Foran ◽  
Amy M. Smith Slep ◽  
...  

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health problem that has been shown to lead to serious mental health consequences. Due to its frequent co-occurrence with psychiatric disorders, it is important to assess for IPV in mental health settings to improve treatment planning and referral. However, lack of training in how to identify and respond to IPV has been identified as a barrier for the assessment of IPV. The present study seeks to better understand this IPV-related training gap by assessing global mental health professionals’ experiences of IPV-related training and factors that contribute to their likelihood of receiving training. Participants were French-, Spanish-, and Japanese-speaking psychologists and psychiatrists ( N = 321) from 24 nations differing on variables related to IPV, including IPV prevalence, IPV-related norms, and IPV-related laws. Participants responded to an online survey asking them to describe their experiences of IPV-related training (i.e., components and hours of training) and were asked to rate the frequency with which they encountered IPV in clinical practice and their level of knowledge and experience related to relationship problems; 53.1% of participants indicated that they had received IPV-related training. Clinicians from countries with relatively better implemented laws addressing IPV and those who encountered IPV more often in their regular practice were more likely to have received training. Participants who had received IPV-related training, relative to those without training, were more likely to report greater knowledge and experience related to relationship problems. Findings suggest that clinicians’ awareness of IPV and the institutional context in which they practice are related to training. Training, in turn, is associated with subjective appraisals of knowledge and experience related to relationship problems. Increasing institutional efforts to address IPV (e.g., implementing IPV legislation) may contribute to improved practices with regard to IPV in mental health settings.

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110051
Author(s):  
Samantha C. Burns ◽  
Cary S. Kogan ◽  
Richard E. Heyman ◽  
Heather M. Foran ◽  
Amy M. Smith Slep ◽  
...  

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem associated with increased risk of developing mental health conditions. Assessment of IPV in mental health settings is important for appropriate treatment planning and referral; however, lack of training in how to identify and respond to IPV presents a significant barrier to assessment. To address this issue, the World Health Organization (WHO) advanced a series of evidence-based recommendations for IPV-related training programs. This study examines the relationship between mental health professionals’ experiences of IPV-related training, including the degree to which their training resembles WHO training recommendations, and their accuracy in correctly identifying relationship problems. Participants were psychologists and psychiatrists ( N = 321) from 24 countries who agreed to participate in an online survey in French, Japanese, or Spanish. They responded to questions regarding their IPV-related training (i.e., components and hours of training) and rated the presence or absence of clinically significant relationship problems and maltreatment (RPM) and mental disorders across four case vignettes. Participants who received IPV-related training, and whose training was more recent and more closely resembled WHO training recommendations, were more likely than those without training to accurately identify RPM when it was present. Clinicians regardless of IPV-related training were equally likely to misclassify normative couple issues as clinically significant RPM. Findings suggest that IPV-related training assists clinicians in making more accurate assessments of patients presenting with clinically significant relationship problems, including IPV. These data inform recommendations for IPV-related training programs and suggest that training should be repeated, multicomponent, and include experiential training exercises, and guidelines for distinguishing normative relationship problems from clinically significant RPM.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine E Murray ◽  
Allison Crowe

With the growing emphasis on social justice in the counseling and psychology professions, mental health professionals are increasingly called upon to engage in advocacy work. In this article, the authors describe their advocacy campaign, See the Triumph, which aims to end the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence. See the Triumph is based on research with survivors of intimate partner violence, whose stories inspired the development of the campaign. The article describes how the See the Triumph campaign reflects the American Counseling Association’s Advocacy Competencies, as well as the most significant lessons learned through the campaign.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 226-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hamel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of gender in intimate partner violence (IPV) and, based upon the author’s experience as an expert witness, 25 years of clinical experience working with IPV perpetrators and victims, and a review of the relevant scholarly literature, provide judges, attorneys, mental health professionals and expert court witness suggestions for the adjudication of cases involving IPV in homicide and other cases. Design/methodology/approach The author reviewed the extant general domestic violence research literature, depending largely on results from findings from the Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project, a series of 17 literature review published in five issues of the peer-reviewed journal, Partner Ause. Other relevant research articles were found via a search of the PschInfo database, using the keywords “intimate partner homicides,” “domestic violence homicides,” “intimate partner homicides and gender” and “domestic violence homicides and gender.” Findings The judicial response to IPV perpetration has been limited by common misconceptions, among them the confusion between most forms of IPV, which are primarily bi-directional and less consequential and battering, which involves more serious assaults and is typically motivated out of a desire to dominate and control one’s partner. Another misconception is that women are much more likely than men to perpetrate IPV in self-defense or to express emotion. On the other hand, there is no question that female victims are much more likely to experience severe physical injuries, and that women account for approximately three-quarters of homicide victims. Practical implications These include the following: this concise review of IPV research provides a clearer understanding of IPV, useful for anyone working in the field. Mental health professionals working with IPV perpetrators, as well as victims, can draw from this research best practice suggestions in working with more problematic cases. The paper should be especially useful to anyone involved in the adjudication of IPV cases, including lethal cases. In particular, prosecutors and attorneys working for the defense are given suggestions on how to obtain more reliable research data, choose more fruitful questions for their clients, and better conceptualize a case overall. Originality/value This paper presents a more nuanced and evidence-based conceptualization of serious and lethal IPV, drawing on a broad research base not generally available to members of the legal profession.


Affilia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 088610992096082
Author(s):  
Amber Sutton ◽  
Haley Beech ◽  
Burcu Ozturk ◽  
Debra Nelson-Gardell

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of individuals across all demographics and ethnicities. Research has revealed a direct link between experiencing IPV and having adverse physical, mental, and financial outcomes which can create difficulties for survivors. Survivors experiencing these adverse outcomes are likely to seek out support to address these issues, increasing the likelihood that they will encounter mental health professionals (MHPs). MHPs can play a significant role in assessing and addressing IPV since they are often critical access points for those experiencing violence and are likely to counsel victims. Accurate identification of current or past IPV victimization is crucial to avoiding the potential of misdiagnosis of survivors. In addition, by applying and emphasizing an understanding of the connection between individual and structural explorations of gender, race, class, and other socially constructed identities, mental health professionals can utilize the skills necessary to challenge inequalities, which in turn can encourage survivors to create strategies that make sense to themselves and their communities. This study explores what is known about how MHPs are prepared to work with IPV. Peer-reviewed journals that were published between 2005 and 2019 were reviewed systematically to develop a better understanding of the existing literature. We sought to answer the question, “What is known about how MHPs are prepared to work with IPV?” This review identified 20 articles regarding training experiences of MHPs and how these experiences shaped their responses to and practice with those experiencing IPV.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy A. Sousa ◽  
Kim Yacoubian ◽  
Patricia Flaherty Fischette ◽  
Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia

The global mental health ramifications of political violence and intimate partner violence (IPV) are well established. There also exists a growing body of evidence about the increased risks for IPV within situations of political violence. Yet, except for a few studies, there is little literature that simultaneously examines how political violence and IPV might result in unique risks for particular types of mental health sequela. Delineating possible divergent patterns between specific mental health conditions resulting from political violence and IPV takes on an increased urgency given that, although they are related, the two most commonly reported outcomes of these two types of violence—post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression—not only require different types of treatment, but may in fact be generated or maintained by disparate paths. Using survey data from adult women in Palestine ( n = 122), this study explores the relationships between IPV and political violence (both lifetime and past-month exposure) and tests their independent relationships to PTSD and depressive symptomology. After controlling for the other form of violence exposure, political violence was correlated with PTSD and not with depressive symptomology, while IPV was correlated with depressive symptomology and not with PTSD. Findings demonstrate that distinct forms of violence exposure might indeed be associated with specific mental health outcomes. Results illustrate the need to assess for both political violence and IPV when researching and designing interventions related to violence.


2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 326-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mysore Narasimha Vranda ◽  
Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar ◽  
D. Muralidhar ◽  
N. Janardhana ◽  
P. T. Sivakumar

ABSTRACT Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV)/domestic violence is one of the significant public health problems, but little is known about the barriers to disclosure in tertiary care psychiatric settings. Methodology: One hundred women seeking inpatient or outpatient services at a tertiary care psychiatric setting were recruited for study using purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview was administered to collect the information from women with mental illness experiencing IPV to know about their help-seeking behaviors, reasons for disclosure/nondisclosure of IPV, perceived feelings experienced after reporting IPV, and help received from the mental health professionals (MHPs) following the disclosure of violence. Results: The data revealed that at the patient level, majority of the women chose to conceal their abuse from the mental health-care professionals, fearing retaliation from their partners if they get to know about the disclosure of violence. At the professional level, lack of privacy was another important barrier for nondisclosure where women reported that MHPs discussed the abuse in the presence of their violent partners. Conclusion: The findings of the study brought out the need for mandatory screening of violence and designing tailor-made multicomponent interventions for mental health care professionals at psychiatric setting in India.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256850
Author(s):  
Mercedes Aguerrebere ◽  
Sonia M. Frías ◽  
Mary C. Smith Fawzi ◽  
Rocío López ◽  
Giuseppe Raviola

This paper examines the scope and characteristics of male-to-female intimate partner violence in southern rural Chiapas, Mexico, and its association with depression and anxiety symptoms, highlighting the role of partner controlling behaviors. Participants were selected by random sampling. One-hundred and forty-one women >15 years participated in the study. Data was obtained through an adapted version of the National Survey of the Dynamics of Household Relationships (ENDIREH) intimate partner violence scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression symptoms and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 for anxiety symptoms. Quantitative results indicated a 66.4% lifetime prevalence of physical and/or sexual IPV among ever-partnered women 15 years or older (95% CI: 57.5–74.5%). Forty percent (95% CI: 32.0–49.7%) of them reported having experienced physical and/or sexual violence with high partner control (HC-IPV), and 25.8% (95% CI: 18.5–34.3%) reported having experienced physical and/or sexual violence with low or moderate partner control (MC-IPV). Lifetime experience of HC-IPV was significantly associated with moderate-severe depression symptoms (RR = 5.8) and suicidality (RR = 2.08). While partner alcohol abuse was associated with a 3.06 times higher risk of lifetime physical and/or sexual IPV, 30.9% of women mentioned that their partners were never drunk when violence occurred. Interestingly, high partner alcohol abuse was more frequent among women who reported HC-IPV compared to MC-IPV. Implications for global mental health practice are discussed.


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