Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Belongs in the Psychiatric Setting

Sydney Taylor, MD, said screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) needed to extend to every patient in outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department settings, even when IPV was not the presenting concern.¹ Screening should not be restricted to patients who reported IPV or appeared to have physical injuries, she said. Basing the decision to ask on apparent physical harm, or on assumptions that IPV was underlying, was insufficient. Taylor advised asking about relationship quality and history of abuse as a routine part of care, even when the patient presented for another reason, and screening whenever there was doubt. Clinicians should be "making sure that you're screening everybody, even somebody you don't really think would be at risk for that," Taylor emphasized.

Taylor noted that the male perpetrator and female victim pattern emphasized in modern media and campaigns was not inaccurate, but screening still needed to include patients who did not fit it.² IPV affected people across cultures and genders, she also highlighted. As public discussion increased, behaviors that people previously might not have classified as abuse were more often recognized, and attention to IPV brought awareness and offered support to those affected. Increased media attention could have both positive and negative effects, according to Taylor.

Patients in the outpatient setting might have withheld disclosure out of concern that "they're going to get flooded with resources, they're going to be told they need to leave this person, and in that moment made to feel judged," Taylor added. Clinicians needed to provide information on resources while supporting patients wherever they were in their decision, whether or not they intended to leave the relationship.¹ A clinician who remained a trusted, nonjudgmental presence ensured that patients knew where to turn if they later chose to leave and felt supported in their psychiatric care even if they did not.

Dr Taylor is a second-year psychiatry resident at the Carolinas Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program in Charlotte, North Carolina.

References

1. Taylor S, Rachal J, Soliman L. Breaking the cycle of intimate partner violence: a brief guide for psychiatric clinicians. Psychiatric Times. September 22, 2026. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/breaking-the-cycle-of-intimate-partner-violence-a-brief-guide-for-psychiatric-clinicians

2. Oram S, Fisher HL, Minnis H, et al. The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health: advancing mental health services, research, and policy. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9(6):487-524.