“I Call us Heroes or Warrior Women”: Survivor Narratives of Post-Traumatic Growth Following Intimate Partner Abuse

Haythornthwaite, Lauren A, Kiemle, Gundi, Brooks, Matthew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5469-7769, Balfour, Robert and Oliver, Lindsay (2024) “I Call us Heroes or Warrior Women”: Survivor Narratives of Post-Traumatic Growth Following Intimate Partner Abuse. Traumatology. ISSN 1085-9373 (In Press)

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Abstract

The negative impacts of intimate partner abuse are well understood. Recently, there has been a drive to understand survivors’ experiences of positive adaptation, recovery, and growth in the aftermath of abuse. However, this area remains under-researched, and there is limited understanding of the experiences of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and meaning-making in intimate partner abuse survivors. Therefore, the study intended to explore, describe, and make sense of the lived experiences and processes in which PTG occurs in female intimate partner abuse survivors. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with seven participants from the UK. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four group experiential themes emerged: “Moving towards Empowerment: A journey of safety, power, choice and control”, “Discovering our true self”, “Embracing life through a new way of living” and “The journey is not ours alone”. Participants experienced profound and meaningful changes in their sense of self, others, and the world. Additionally, PTG appeared to be an evolving and continual process which was enabled or inhibited by the individual and those around them. In conclusion, intimate partner abuse survivors can experience profound, purposeful, and meaningful transformation which may constitute PTG. Within this participant group, growth was a journey characterized by empowerment and liberation. Services supporting intimate partner abuse survivors may benefit from taking trauma-informed, formulation-based approaches to uncover and empower growth within those survivors who experience it.