Course Description

Beyond Survival: Pathways to Healing After Intimate Partner Violence is an advanced 2 hour continuing education course designed for behavioral health professionals seeking a deeper understanding of resilience, trauma recovery, and evidence-based intervention with survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). This course examines IPV as a multidimensional public health crisis involving physical violence, coercive control, emotional abuse, sexual violence, and complex relational trauma. Emphasis is placed on understanding the neurobiological, psychological, relational, cultural, and systemic impacts of IPV across diverse populations.

Participants will explore contemporary resilience frameworks, including ecological and trauma-informed models, while examining the dynamic processes that contribute to survivor adaptation, recovery, and post-traumatic growth. The course integrates current research related to neurobiology of trauma, attachment theory, coping mechanisms, identity reconstruction, social support, and meaning-making processes. Evidence-based interventions including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-focused CBT, EMDR, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), relational approaches, and integrated care models are reviewed within trauma-informed and culturally responsive frameworks.

Special attention is given to ethical and clinical best practices, including assessment, safety planning, confidentiality, mandated reporting, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The course also addresses systemic barriers, community-based supports, and emerging directions in telehealth, policy development, and resilience research. Participants will gain practical knowledge and trauma-informed strategies to support survivor-centered healing and long-term recovery.. This is a NBCC and Florida Board Approved course for 2 CE hours.

Please review the course materials prior to purchasing the course. Often, individuals will print a copy of the course worksheet to complete while they view the course material. Once you are ready to complete the course, please enroll in the course and complete the course requirements, including the course post-test and course survey. You will receive your certificate automatically for printing or downloading after achieving an 80% or higher on the post-test and completing the course survey. 

Beyond Survival-Pathways to Healing After Intimate Partner Violence Course Text.pdf

Beyond Survival-Pathways to Healing After Intimate Partner Violence Course Worksheet.pdf

Course Author:  Bryan Glazier, PhD, LMFT, LMHC,, FL Qualified MHC/MFT Supervisor 

Course Time/Location: 2 CE Hours, Location: www.directceu.com (web-based, asynchronous/home study) 

Course Text:  Beyond Survival: Pathways to Healing After Intimate Partner Violence 

Course Board Approval Statement(s): NBCC, Florida Board Approved

Directceu, llc has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7411. directceu, llc maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

directceu, llc (BAP # 50-17578) is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling. directceu, llc maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

 Financial Disclosure Statement

directceu, llc is committed to providing our professional colleagues with unbiased information. directceu does not accept commercial support and our course authors have no significant financial interests or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.

Learning Objectives:

Through the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  1. Define intimate partner violence (IPV) and differentiate its physical, emotional, sexual, and coercive control components. 
  2. Analyze neurobiological, psychological, relational, and systemic impacts associated with chronic IPV exposure. 
  3. Differentiate trait, process, ecological, and post-traumatic growth models of resilience. 
  4. Identify major risk and protective factors influencing recovery outcomes among IPV survivors. 
  5. Apply trauma-informed principles including safety, trustworthiness, empowerment, and cultural responsiveness in clinical practice. 
  6. Evaluate evidence-based interventions for IPV survivors, including CBT, TF-CBT, EMDR, ACT, attachment-based approaches, and integrated care models. 
  7. Assess ethical considerations related to confidentiality, safety planning, mandated reporting, and interdisciplinary collaboration. 
  8. Examine the role of social support, identity reconstruction, meaning-making, and narrative integration in long-term recovery and resilience.

Course Syllabus:

I. Introduction and Scope

  • Defining Intimate Partner Violence
  • Public Health Significance
  • Biopsychosocial Consequences
  • Conceptualizing Recovery and Resilience

II. Theoretical Foundations of Resilience in IPV

  • Definitions and Models of Resilience
  • Complex Trauma and Adaptation
  • Polyvagal Theory and Stress Regulation
  • Ecological Systems Perspectives
  • Nonlinear Recovery Processes

III. Neurobiological and Psychological Impact of IPV

  • Neurobiology of Trauma
  • HPA Axis Dysregulation
  • Mental Health Outcomes
  • Cognitive and Emotional Sequelae
  • Physical Health Consequences

IV. Risk and Protective Factors in Recovery

  • Prior Trauma and ACEs
  • Economic Dependence and Isolation
  • Revictimization Risk
  • Protective Factors and Empowerment
  • Intersectionality and Systemic Barriers

V. Core Mechanisms of Resilience

  • Cognitive Restructuring
  • Emotional Regulation
  • Social Support and Resourcefulness
  • Identity Reconstruction
  • Narrative and Meaning-Making

VI. Coping Strategies and Survivor Narratives

  • Adaptive Coping Strategies
  • Maladaptive Coping
  • Survivor Lived Experiences
  • Cultural Contexts of Coping

VII. Trauma-Informed and Evidence-Based Interventions

  • Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
  • CBT and TF-CBT
  • EMDR and ACT
  • Relational and Attachment-Based Approaches
  • Group Therapy and Peer Support
  • Integrated Care Models

VIII. Systemic and Community-Level Recovery Supports

  • Legal and Policy Interventions
  • Shelter and Housing Stability
  • Health Care System Responses
  • Community Advocacy Programs
  • Barriers to Access and Equity

IX. Special Populations and Considerations

  • Substance Use Disorders
  • Pregnant and Postpartum Survivors
  • LGBTQ+ Survivors
  • Military and Veteran Populations
  • Older Adults Experiencing IPV

X. Long-Term Recovery and Post-Traumatic Growth

  • Pathways to Growth
  • Identity Transformation
  • Social Reconnection
  • Sustained Recovery Challenges

XI. Clinical Implications and Best Practices

  • Assessment and Screening
  • Treatment Planning
  • Ethical Considerations
  • Safety Planning and Reporting Obligations

XII. Future Directions and Research Gaps

  • Longitudinal Research Needs
  • Telehealth and Digital Interventions
  • Understudied Populations
  • Policy and Systems-Level Research