190 Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan
a national organization developed for those grieving the loss of a child. At
the group, Lisa and Mark finally had the opportunity to be around others
who had more of a sense of what their grief experience has been like. Lisa
acknowledged feeling a great sense of comfort in this, which she credits for
helping her to feel more understood and less alone. In this way, she con-
tinues to look for meaning with her continued connection to her daughter.
Lichtenthal, Neimeyer, Currier, Roberts, and Jordan (2013) speak about the
impact of meaning-making with loss; they reported higher rates of personal
growth and improved coping over time for grievers who are able to make
meaning of their loss. Through the group, Lisa strongly identified with other
parents who lost a child, and she believes this aided her healing and ongoing
search for meaning in Marissa’s death.
Each in their own way, Lisa and Mark continue to keep the memory and
spirit of their daughter alive in them. While they “will never stop missing their
little girl,” Marissa remains a very real part of their family to this day.The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Adult Development
Barbara Gilin
Barbara Gilin is a licensed clinical social worker and a clinical associate professor at
Widener University’s Center for Social Work Education. She has worked in outpatient
and inpatient mental health settings and currently maintains a private practice where
she specializes in counseling trauma survivors. She is certified in EMDR, a trauma-
processing model for practice. In addition to providing individual and family therapy,
she has run groups for survivors of domestic violence and survivors of child sexual
abuse.IntroductionTraumatic experiences across the lifespan affect development in many ways,
and those effects have been well-documented (Briere & Spinazzola, 2009;
Courtois, 2004; D’Andrea, Ford, Stalbach, Spinazzola, & van der Kolk, 2012;
Rothschild, 2000). In this section, the effects of ongoing intimate partner vio-
lence (IPV) will be explored, along with interventions that help victims to
begin their recovery from the negative consequences and to move forward in
their adult development. IPV is defined as completed or threatened physical,
sexual, or psychological violence by a current or former partner (Saltzman,
Fanslow, McMahon, & Shelley, 2002, pp. 20–22). Unfortunately, the experiences
of the client in the following case example are far from unique. According to
the U.S. Department of Justice, from 1994 to 2010, about 4 in 5 victims of IPV
were female. Of the 3,032 homicide incidents involving females in 2010, 39%
were committed by an intimate partner. During that same year, 3% of the
10,878 homicide incidents involving males were committed by an intimate
partner. From 1994 to 2011, the percentage of IPV experienced by females fluc-
tuated between 28% and 42%. Females ages 18 to 34 generally experienced the
highest rates of IPV, throughout the formative period considered to be young
adulthood (Catalano, 2013).