Integrative Healing Model for Intimate Partner Violence ©

The Integrative Healing Model for Intimate Partner Violence (IHM-IPV) is a holistic, trauma-informed framework designed to help survivors understand their experiences, reclaim agency, and heal from the effects of abuse. Rooted in the recognition that IPV is shaped by systemic factors, intergenerational trauma, and social determinants of health, this model provides a comprehensive, survivor-centered approach to recovery. It incorporates key elements such as the Stairway of Abuse, intersectionality, and the impact of provider presence, illustrating how every interaction can either hinder or support a survivor’s healing journey. The model is structured around six core elements, including environmental influences (weather), the therapeutic presence of providers (soil), psychoeducation (roots), the interplay between knowledge and experience (trunk), experiential healing pathways (branches), and the individual's unique lived experience (tree slice). By emphasizing self-reflection, effective communication, and the power of connection, the IHM-IPV equips clinicians, advocates, and community leaders with actionable strategies to create inclusive, survivor-centered support systems that validate survivors' experiences, dismantle shame, and foster meaningful healing.

STAIRWAY OF ABUSE

The IPV Stairway illustrates the trajectory of abuse — from developmental trauma to finding yourself in an abusive relationship. It forms the roots of the Healing Tree and traces the steps many survivors have unknowingly walked, leading them into the arms of their abuser(s).

The hard truth is that landing in an abusive relationship is a setup from the beginning — because you can’t step off a path you don’t yet know you’re on. The same traits we’re often rewarded for, especially as women — self-sacrifice, over-accommodation, people-pleasing, and making ourselves small — are the very traits that make us vulnerable to abuse. And when we finally find a way out, those same traits are used to blame us for what we’ve endured. It’s gaslighting on the grandest scale.

When you explore the Stairway through your own lived experience, it helps dissolve shame and self-blame, revealing just how deeply it was never your fault. It becomes an emotional journey of empowerment — transforming the question, “How did I let this happen?” into “How did I land here?”

Integrative Healing Model for Intimate Partner Violence ©

STAIRWAY OF ABUSE

c.a.l.m - Self Regulation technique by Jessica cary

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