Citation

Marsden S, Humphreys C, Hegarty K. Violence Vict. 2024; 39(1): 71-87.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Springer Publishing)

DOI

10.1891/VV-2021-0146

PMID

38453369

Abstract

Many women who experience intimate partner violence seek the expertise of psychologists to support their healing. However, there is a gap in the research about what women want from their psychologists. We interviewed 20 women survivors who had seen psychologists. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we constructed three themes: see all of me, see me for my expertise, and don't impose an agenda on me. We found that often psychologists acted as experts imposing their own agendas, rather than supporting survivors to make their own decisions. We discuss this in relation to the link between knowledge and power through dominant social science discourses and explore how resistance to this dominant discourse was taken up by many women.

Language: en

Keywords

domestic abuse; intimate partner violence/partner abuse; mental health and diagnosis; trauma; victim treatment and standards of care