Splitting and integrating: The enabling narratives of mental health professionals who lived with domestic and intimate violence

The present study focuses on the life stories of mental health professionals who treated battered women in their practice and experienced intimate and domestic violence in their personal lives. Narrative interviews were conducted with 9 women in the mental health professions who experienced violence in their intimate relationships. The article attempts to develop a conceptual perspective within which the life stories of these particular women can be better understood. It analyzes the transformation of self as reflected in the dynamics between two facets of identity: the professional and the personal. These facets were found to be in constant dialogue as they moved from intentional splitting to integration along a temporal dimension, with each playing a different role.