Assessing Intimate Partner Violence

Create a step-by-step guide on how to effectively assess Intimate Partner Violence with your patients at the onset of couples therapy, along with instructions on how to determine if it is safe to proceed with couples therapy or refer to alternative treatment modalities. Be sure to include specific questions to ask your clients in conjoint versus individual sessions to determine what type of violence they are experiencing, frequency, duration, and recency of the latest occurrence. It should be clear how asking these specific questions will help you determine whether couples therapy is appropriate. In addition to your guide, note if you would give a formal inventory to couples to help assess violence.

References:

Taft, C. T., Murphy, C. M., & Creech, S. K. (2016). Assessment. In Trauma-informed treatment and prevention of intimate partner violence (pp. 41–65). American Psychological Association.

Greene, K., & Bogo, M. (2002). The different faces of intimate violence: Implications for assessment and treatment. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 28, 455– 466.

Jory, B. (2004). The Intimate Justice Scale: An instrument to screen for psychological abuse and physical violence in clinical practice. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(1), 29–44.

Bograd, M., & Mederos, F. (1999). Battering and couples therapy: Universal screening and selection of treatment modality. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 25, 291–312.

Last Completed Projects