VHA Social Work

Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program (IPVAP) - VETERANS & PARTNERS - What Is IPV?

Emotional or Psychological IPV - When a person tries to hurt his/her partner’s self-worth. Intimate partner violence often starts with the use of emotionally or psychologically abusive behaviors that escalate over time.

Examples include:

• Name calling and insults
• Controlling your money or spending
• Keeping you from working or household activities
• Isolating you from friends and family
• Bullying
• Putting you down
• Embarrassing you in front of others
• Saying you are “crazy” or “worthless”
• Controlling where you go/who you see/what you wear
• Controlling communications/taking phone way or breaking it
• Monitoring who you are talking to
• Trying to manipulate your actions

Threats:

Threats are a form of emotional and psychological abuse meant to cause fear and compliance through words, acts, or use of weapons to harm the partner, their possessions, their pets, or their loved ones. Threats can be explicitly stated or implied through actions or non-verbal cues.

Seek Help:

• Some people experience only one form of intimate partner violence while others may experience many. Often IPV begins as infrequent mild emotional, verbal or controlling behavior, but it can turn into more frequent and severe behaviors. Intimate partner violence can be a single event or can occur on and off for many years. 
• You do not have to be sure you are experiencing or using intimate partner violence to receive help from the Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program.

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