Developing an Intervention Model to Reduce Covert Psychological Violence in Marital Relationships with Emphasis on Emotional Control, Silent Humiliation, and Psychological Manipulation
Keywords:
covert psychological violence, emotional control, silent humiliation, psychological manipulation, gaslighting, marital relationships, intervention model, qualitative researchAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to develop an intervention model for identifying, conceptualizing, and reducing covert psychological violence in marital relationships, focusing on emotional control, silent humiliation, and psychological manipulation.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. The participants included 24 individuals from Tehran, selected through purposive sampling. Sixteen participants had direct lived experience of covert psychological violence in marital relationships, and eight were couple therapists or family counseling specialists. Data were collected exclusively through semi-structured interviews. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved; saturation occurred at the twenty-first interview, and three additional interviews were conducted to ensure data adequacy. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using NVivo software through initial coding, theme development, theme review, and construction of the final thematic network.
Findings: Five main categories emerged from the data: the invisible architecture of emotional control, silent humiliation and gradual erosion of self-worth, psychological manipulation and induced doubt about reality, psychological-relational consequences and victims’ adaptive responses, and components of a stage-based intervention model. The findings showed that covert psychological violence is often experienced not as overt aggression but through emotional deprivation, punitive silence, invalidation of emotions, persistent blame-shifting, control of social relations, implicit threats of abandonment, and distortion of the couple’s shared narrative.
Conclusion: The proposed intervention model emphasizes safe identification of covert violence, naming abusive behaviors, cognitive-emotional reconstruction of the victim’s experience, boundary-setting training, strengthening social support, promoting accountability in the abusive partner, and preventing relapse into the cycle of control. This model may be useful for family counselors, couple therapists, and marital crisis intervention centers.
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