78. Don't Second Guess: Trusting Your Intuition to Identify Early Indicators of Intimate Partner Abuse

The Good Mood Clinic Podcast

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Welcome to another episode of The Good Mood Clinic Podcast!
TRIGGER WARNING - Intimate partner abuse discussed and some sobering statistics of violence/sexual violence against woman are stated.
In today's episode we speak with Psychologist Leanne Nunn who has recently completed her PhD research on The Earliest Warning Signs of Intimate Partner Abuse. Leanne has over twenty five years of experience as a psychologist in the clinical, management and training sectors. She is also a PhD Student at the University of Tasmania focusing on intimate partner abuse (IPA). She has worked
with women that have experienced IPA or childhood abuse extensively throughout her career, both individually and in groups, across private practice, hospital and community settings.
Summary of research findings

This qualitative research project focused on listening to the voices of survivors of IPA and identified four key findings:
1) Women witnessed behaviours by the perpetrator early in the relationship that they felt were inappropriate or concerning or that they simply did not agree with. However, they did not label these behaviours as early warning signs of abuse, even when they were already very familiar with warning signs of abuse.
2) When women witnessed these inappropriate behaviours, they compromised or pushed down their internal reactions to them.
3) Every relationship included perpetrators’ intense charm, pursuit, love or excitement.
4) Every relationship included perpetrators’ controlling behaviours that imposed limits on the victim-survivor.
These findings suggest that the socialisation of women (including prioritising their partner’s needs over their own, maintaining the relationship at all costs, and a hope to be ‘swept up’ in their relationship) creates a foundation that can be manipulated by perpetrators to further enhance their abusive tactics. There are important implications of this research for primary prevention programs going forward.
Contact for Psychologist Leanne Nunn.
http://www.lmnunn.com/
Link to Leanne's book
http://www.lmnunn.com/books/
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