September 6, 2018 | 3 min read

Intimate partner violence: How to start a conversation with patients and staff

By Michelle Patch, MSN, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Preparing and coaching your healthcare team to have open, honest dialogues with patients about intimate partner violence is essential. Failure to screen and address this matter is dangerous, while doing so can save lives.

February 25, 2021 | 2 min read

How You Can Help With Intimate Partner Violence

By Lisa Geller, MPH, Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health crisis and most deadly when a gun is involved. Clinicians should screen patients for IPV, ask about firearm possession, and refer those at risk of IPV to appropriate services.

October 6, 2021 | 2 min read

Helping Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence During COVID

By Jennifer Knetig, PhD, VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare, Kelly Buckholdt, PhD, Veterans Health Administration, Taylor Ceroni, PhD, Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health

Intimate partner violence has increased during the pandemic. Clinicians must ask patients about their safety and know where to refer.

September 1, 2020 | 2 min read

How to Help When Home Isn’t Safe

By Galina Portnoy, PhD, Yale School of Medicine, Jessica Keith, PhD, University of Central Florida, Kelly Buckholdt, PhD, Veterans Health Administration

The pandemic has resulted in everyone spending more time at home, which has increased the potential for being physically, sexually, and psychologically harmed by others. After ensuring that patients feel safe during telehealth appointments, clinicians must directly ask if they are experiencing intimate partner violence and develop a safety plan.

March 2, 2020 | 3 min read

Universal trauma-informed care (archives, 2020)

By Sadie Elisseou, MD, Boston VA Health Care System

Understanding perpetrators of violence as potential trauma survivors can inspire empathy in clinicians and contribute to a universal, trauma-informed approach to patient care.

June 24, 2025 | 4 min read

Unsheltered lives, unmet needs 

When caring for patients who are unhoused, addressing food and housing insecurity is just as important as providing medical treatment. Prioritize building trust and ensuring psychological safety through trauma-informed interactions and a nonjudgmental approach. 

October 16, 2018 | 3 min read

The heart of trauma-informed care (archives, 2018)

Trauma-informed care means recognizing trauma’s prevalence and long-term effects; understanding its effects on patient behavior and engagement in care; prioritizing patient choice and collaboration while building trust; and offering education and resources to promote healing.

August 12, 2019 | 3 min read

Mental Illness and Mass Shootings

By Cassandra Crifasi, PhD, MPH, Emma Beth McGinty, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Most people with serious mental illness are never violent toward others. Due to the media’s misleading focus on the role of mental illness in gun violence generally and mass shootings specifically, many people are afraid that a diagnosis of a serious mental health condition like schizophrenia means they or their loved one are at high risk of hurting other people, which is not supported by the research evidence.

January 9, 2023 | 2 min read

Questions Raised by “There, There” 

By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Reflecting on our own “there” (the place where we grew up) can trigger conversation that helps us to understand our patients’ “there.” This can strengthen the patient-clinician relationship.

December 14, 2021 | 1 min read

Supporting Loved Ones of People With Addictions

By Angela Orozco, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The impact of addiction extends beyond the individual. We can offer and introduce resources like Al-Anon to both patients and their loved ones.