Intimate partner violence: psycho-physio-pathological sequelae for defining a holistic enriched treatment

Valentina Cesari; Alessandra Vallefuoco; Jacopo Agrimi; Angelo Gemignani; Nazareno Paolocci; Danilo Menicucci

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.943081

Intimate partner violence: psycho-physio-pathological sequelae for defining a holistic enriched treatment

Front Behav Neurosci. 2022 Sep 30:16:943081. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.943081. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Valentina Cesari¹, Alessandra Vallefuoco¹, Jacopo Agrimi², Angelo Gemignani^{1

3}, Nazareno Paolocci^{2

4}, Danilo Menicucci^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³ Clinical Psychology branch, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy.
⁴ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁵ Comitato Unico di Garanzia, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a health priority, which worldwide, mainly affects women. The consequences of IPV include several psychophysiological effects. These range from altered levels of hormones and neurotrophins to difficulties in emotion regulation and cognitive impairment. Mounting evidence from preclinical studies has shown that environmental enrichment, a form of sensory-motor, cognitive, and social stimulation, can induce a wide range of neuroplastic processes in the brain which consistently improve recovery from a wide variety of somatic and psychiatric diseases. To support IPV survivors, it is essential to ensure a safe housing environment, which can serve as a foundation for environmental enrichment-based interventions. However, some concerns have been raised when supportive housing interventions focus on the economic aspects of survivors' lives instead of the emotional ones. We thus propose a holistic intervention in which supportive housing is integrated with evidenced-based psychotherapies which could constitute an enriched therapeutic approach for IPV survivors.

Keywords: IPV; empowerment; environmental enrichment; psychological support; psychotherapy; safe environments.