A multidimensional framework of healing among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) survivors of gender-based violence: Understanding components of recovery through identity-affirming strengths.

Abstract

Objective: Populations under the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) umbrella experience disproportionately high rates of gender-based violence, yet limited research has examined how survivors navigate healing. Guided by sexual and gender minority stress and resiliency theory and the Sexual and Gender Minority Health Disparities Research Framework, this study identified healing pathways among LGBTQ+ gender-based violence survivors, with intentional oversampling of gender-diverse individuals who remain understudied in trauma research.

Method: Using purposive sampling, we conducted a two-phase qualitative study with 38 LGBTQ+ gender-based violence survivors recruited through community organizations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Haven, Connecticut. Data collection integrated the Clinical Ethnographic Narrative Interview, incorporating social network mapping, body mapping, lifeline construction, and card sorting, with a week-long Photo-experiencing and Reflective Listening process in which participants documented and reflected on daily healing experiences. Thematic analysis was used to identify core dimensions and strengths supporting healing.

Results: Seven interconnected dimensions of healing emerged: establishing safety and stability, processing trauma and reframing experiences, managing negative states, nurturing well-being, rebuilding identity, cultivating affirming connections, and reclaiming hope, power, and agency. Each dimension was supported by malleable psychosocial strengths, including boundary setting, emotion regulation, meaning-making skills, cultural reconnection, chosen family development, community engagement, and self-advocacy. Findings illustrate how individual strengths interact dynamically with community-level resources, emphasizing healing as both a personal and collective process.

Conclusions: This study advances trauma science by identifying specific psychosocial strengths and healing components that can inform future interventions. The findings challenge individualistic models of trauma recovery and underscore the need for culturally responsive, strengths-based, and community-engaged approaches that honor LGBTQ+ survivors' agency while addressing systemic barriers to healing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).