ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) is recognized as a public health crisis that has dire consequences to the body, mind, and spirit of survivors. The holistic impact of IPV supports the need for interventions that aid in healing and empowerment on an individual level as well as macro level healing. Intervention research supports the impact that traditional therapy methods can have on the individual but lack an emphasis on holistic methods of healing that include macro level healing elements. Research on holistic methods of intervention such as yoga and meditation remain small and emphasize measuring symptom reduction over holistic healing and empowerment. There is a gap in the literature of modalities to support individual and collective healing and empowerment of women IPV survivors. A vegan lifestyle has been shown with other populations to support healing and empowerment. It has not, however, been explored with the women survivor population. To address this gap and explore if a vegan lifestyle has an impact on survivor healing and empowerment, I used a qualitative phenomenological research design to obtain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of fifteen vegan, women survivors of IPV. This study explored two overarching phenomenological questions: 1) What are the lived experiences of women IPV survivors who are vegan? 2) What role does veganism play in the phenomenon of healing and empowerment for women IPV survivors? Data was collected via unstructured, in-depth interviews. The hermeneutic circle was used in data analysis looking at parts of the data and then zoomed out to see the whole picture in an iterative process. I identified themes under three interrelated categories. Themes in category one explained the unique experience of being a vegan IPV survivor that included the challenges and holistic impact of abuse. Category two encompassed themes related to the impact of veganism on individual and collective healing. Individual healing was described occurring at the levels of body, mind, and spirit. Collective healing was found through greater connection with themselves and others. Category three included themes related to the impact of veganism on individual and collective empowerment. The survivors felt veganism empowered them to be their authentic selves and that the lifestyle made an impact on the world greater than themselves. The findings also aligned with the theoretical frameworks of holism, integrative body-mind-spirit social work, ecofeminism, and Total Liberation Theory. Clinicians working with vegan and non-vegan survivors are encouraged by these results to acknowledge the holistic impact of abuse and support holistic modalities and lifestyles to support healing and empowerment. Social work education could also benefit from continuing to educate students on holistic interventions that support micro and macro level healing.
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