USA: The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health

Provides training, support, and consultation to advocates, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, legal professionals, and policymakers as they work to improve responses to survivors and their children.

Domestic violence and other lifetime trauma can have significant mental health consequences. Although symptoms often improve or abate with increased safety and social support, abuse may sometimes have longer-term health and mental health effects. The traumatic effects of abuse can impact an individual’s ability to access safety, heal from trauma, and pursue life goals. Additionally, living with mental health conditions or addiction increases a person’s risk of experiencing abuse in the future. Exposure to ongoing abuse can also exacerbate symptoms and affect recovery.

The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health provides training, support, and consultation to advocates, mental health and substance abuse providers, legal professionals, and policymakers as they work to improve agency and systems-level responses to survivors and their children. Our work is survivor defined and rooted in principles of social justice.

The Center is one of four national Special Issue Resource Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Family Violence Prevention and Services Program and is a member of the Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN).