An exploratory study of experiences of Christian therapists working with conservative Christian women experiencing intimate partner violence

This dissertation presents research that investigated the experiences and perceptions of Christian therapists who work with conservative Christian women who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite the widespread occurrence of IPV, therapists continue to face challenges in areas of training and supervision in working with this type of trauma. In addition to the factors involved in working with IPV, unique and complex cultural factors complicate the process of working with conservative Christian women in IPV. Studies related to the interface of IPV, religion, and the impact on therapists working with this population are limited. No literature was found concerning Christian therapists' experiences and perceptions when working with this population.;To address this gap in the literature, this investigation incorporated a grounded theory design to explore and describe the experiences of Christian therapists as they worked with conservative Christian women in IPV. Five categories emerged from interviews conducted with six female Christian therapists over a nine month period of time. These categories were having a calling, therapist self, treating the women, encountering systems, and therapist understanding. Participants suggested their work with conservative Christian women in IPV was vocational as well as professional, based on personal transformation and experiences with God. Their experiences and perceptions of God resulted in the belief that IPV was incongruent with Christian spirituality. This informed how they provided clinical treatment to their clients, as well as how they encountered religious and secular communities regarding the issue of IPV. The process of working with conservative Christian women in IPV was a multifaceted, complex, and fluid process that included interaction of all the categories and properties as participants functioned in the calling that was central to their work with IPV.