Trauma In Domestic Violence

Some people have their lives all mapped out and traumatic events are not calculated into this equation. Sudden traumatic events can cause plans to change. No one plans to lose a loved one, experience a volcano eruption, be a victim of domestic violence, witness an accident, or have cancer. Trauma is someone has witnessed or experienced a terribly frightening or a life threatening event or situation. Natural disasters, rape and sexual assault, torture, domestic violence, or mass personal violence are forms of trauma an individual can experience.

Any traumatic experience a person has went through has been either painful, upsetting, troubling, confusing, or stressful. These feelings can become overwhelming, causing our coping mechanisms to become

Even outside therapeutic relationships this is an issue that is cautiously approached, because the subject is very sensitive.

Domestic violence is “a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner” (Chhikara, Jakhar, Malik, Singla, & Dhattarwal, 2013, pg.71). Domestic violence is also known as “domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV)” (James, Brody, and Hamilton, 2013, pg. 360). Domestic violence is very prevalent in today's society in more ways than one. It can happen in many forms such as physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and economical. Physical abuse in is intentionally causing or attempting to inflict physical injury on an individual. Sexual abuse is forcing any form of sexual contact without consent. Psychological abuse in domestic violence is instilling fear into the victim's thinking. Emotional abuse in domestic violence is undermining the victim's sense of worth, and economic abuse is making a victim financially dependent on the abuser or others. Regardless of the form or what it looks like domestic abuse is wrong and against the