Embodiment: features, measures and importance in intimate partner violence.

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts both physical and mental health of victims. The embodiment refers to the inner and outer features that structure how we feel and act within our bodies. The study of the impact of violence on embodiment has led to a growing interest among researchers and practitioners. This is a review chapter about the embodiment features in need to be considered in research and support of victims of intimate partner violence. The chapter also encloses the embodiment measurement tools and ethical cautions, as well as the importance of the embodied possibilities – feeling, owning, and acting – as therapeutic resources for victims of IPV. This chapter ends with a schematic organization of the embodied mechanisms involved in therapy targeting victims of IPV and a brief case report of the embodied therapeutic journey of a female victim.