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. 2025 Sep;31(11):2886-2911.
doi: 10.1177/10778012241259712. Epub 2024 Jun 13.

"It Was one of the Most Revealing Experiences of My Life:" Women's Views on Group Counseling for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Leslie M Tutty  1
Affiliations

"It Was one of the Most Revealing Experiences of My Life:" Women's Views on Group Counseling for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Leslie M Tutty. Violence Against Women. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

Groups are a common clinical intervention for women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). This secondary mixed-methods analysis from a study of 567 Canadian women from the prairie provinces compared the mental health and well-being of 131 women who had attended a IPV group to 436 women who had not attended any group. Qualitatively, perspectives from 131 women (113 comments; 18 interviews) who attended some form of group treatment were analyzed. Of the 199 coded comments about the IPV groups, most were positive (157 or 78.9%), while the remaining 21.1% (42) reflected concerns or suggested changes. Clinical implications are provided.

Keywords: counseling; group counseling; intimate partner violence; support; violence against women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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