"Is It Abuse?"

A Conference Bridging the Gap Between Abuser Education and Therapy

In our work, we encounter many professionals who want to learn more about how to determine the difference between someone who is being abusive and someone whose behavior is insensitive or alienating, but does not necessarily reach the threshold of abuse.

As a part of Emerge's goal to identify the most productive combinations of treatment, we are offering a one day conference on May 5, 2006 which will discuss this difficult topic.

During the conference, we will be presenting tools we use to help differentiate clients who may need to work on specific issues during counseling or therapy and those who may need the added information and intervention of an abuser education program.

Also, we will be discussing goals, techniques and engagement strategies used in work with abusers. We will also identify specific concepts and techniques used in abuser education which may be beneficial for individual, couples and family therapy.

This conference will provide continuing education credits for Social Workers, Mental Health Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors. Continuing Education for Psychologists has been applied for, and details on the status of this application can be received by contacting David Adams at our office (617-547-9879) or by e-mailing him at dadams9@aol.com

To Register for this Conference...

LGBT Abusers

Part Two: Interventions

In last month's issue, we discussed the history of our two groups for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) abusers. We believe that by providing culturally appropriate services, abusers would be able to discuss issues in an environment where they felt safer from homophobia and heterosexism.

Through this greater sense of security, we believe that LGBT abusers can best focus and take responsibility for their abusive and harmful behavior toward their partners and children. Also, group members will find validation for their experiences of prejudice and violence which might otherwise become a source of justification of their own abusive behavior.

LGBT groups are both similar to and different from our heterosexual groups. Sessions are similar in their length (40 sessions), have two group leaders and focus on the abuser taking responsibility for his/her own harmful behavior without blaming or putting down their partner. All groups also look at patterns of abuse during relationship histories and goal setting, and they offer individualized "turns" within the group setting.

However, LGBT groups differ in that they acknowledge the victimization that many participants have experienced due to their sexual orientation. By first acknowledging and validating those experiences, group leaders are able to then address the ways in which the group members have victimized their partners and/or children by their own abusive, violent or harmful behavior.

One specific instance of the difference between heterosexual and LGBT groups is that we may see a LGBT group member's relationship history in which they have a past relationship where they were abused by a partner in either a same sex or heterosexual relationship. During the relationship history we may also find out that they were shunned or assaulted when they "came out" to their parents, friends or a heterosexual partner.

Sometimes parents may have lost custody of their children when the other partner found out they were LGBT. Many clients experience "internalized self-hatred" because they believe that being LGBT is bad, something they may have heard from friends, family or popular culture.

All of these LGBT specific problem make working with LGBT abusers more challenging. The additional problems that LGBT clients bring to group require that group leaders are understanding of group member's burdens without excusing abusive behavior. These groups require persistent attention to self-care to deal with issues such as the depression, self-hatred or substance abuse which may be a response to homophobia and other forms of abuse.

For more information on Emerge's LGBT services...

For Additional Information...

Here are some additional links and information. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or thoughts.

Emerge Survey
Emerge has been asking a series of questions pertaining to abuser education programs since our second newsletter. So far, we have collected information from 21 states and three Canadian provinces, but have only received 35 total surveys. We plan on releasing a future article summarizing the data, but would like to have at least 50 surveys completed before doing so. To take the survey, CLICK HERE!

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)
NCADV's website is invaluable for those who want more information on national resources, state coalitions, public policy information, conferences and helpful information for survivors. To access their website CLICK HERE!

Emerge's Helpful Links
Emerge's website contains a links page which is a helpful resource for anyone doing domestic violence research or looking for information. To take advantage of these links, CLICK HERE!

BBC Radio Program on Domestic Violence, Featuring Emerge
In November, 2005, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) produced a series of radio programs on domestic violence. One of these segments features a former Emerge client and discussion with David Adams, Emerge Co-Director. To listen to this program, CLICK HERE!

Emerge Materials
Emerge has many articles, manuals and other items available for sale. To view these items, CLICK HERE!

For those of you interested in Emerge's Danger Assessment DVD, please e-mail our office at emergedv@aol.com and we will send you an e-mail with detailed instructions on how to pay via credit card online or order by mail.

Emerge F.A.Q.
On our website, we have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section which covers many general and specific questions pertaining to educating abusers and answering hard questions that get asked of batterer intervention providers. To access, CLICK HERE!

(A map of places Emerge has conducted trainings over the past two years)

Would you like to attend an Emerge training? Are travel expenses an obstacles? Keep an eye on this column for upcoming Emerge trainings coming to your area!

APRIL 2006

In AUGUSTA, MAINE there is an introductory Emerge training scheduled for Monday, April 24th and Tuesday, April 25th. This training is sponsored by the Maine Association of Batterer Intervention Programs and is being held at the University of Maine, Augusta campus, in the Civic Center.

For more information and/or to register, please contact Richard Robbins, Director, Time For Change, at 207-594-0270.

MAY 2006

Southeastern Family Institute is hosting an introductory Emerge training in AUGUSTA, GEORGIA on Thursday, May 11th and Friday, May 12th. It will be held at 632 Fifth Street in Augusta. This training welcomes participants from throughout Georgia and South Carolina. To register or for more information about this training, contact Dr. E.J. Holt, Executive Director, at 706-828-4855 or e-mail at csrafamilies@netscape.net

JUNE 2006

The Idaho Council On Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance is hosting Emerge as a part of the Crime Victim Assistance Conference on Wednesday, June 7th and Thursday, June 8th in BOISE, IDAHO. For more information on this conference, or to register, CLICK HERE or call their office at 208-334-5580 or 1-800-291-0463.

Yes, you can! Over the past 4 years, Emerge has pioneered a unique collaboration with Harmony House to adapt the Emerge Model to Hong Kong. David Adams and Ted German just returned from two weeks in Hong Kong where they updated Harmony House staff on the Emerge Model.

Established in 1985, Harmony House is Hong Kong’s largest program for battered women and the first to develop an abuser intervention program as well as a hotline for men. Besides its advocacy services for battered women and their children, Harmony House has an impressive array of community education and outreach programs that include a health care outreach and training program, preventive education in schools, and innovative collaborations with many other social service agencies.

In 2000, Emerge staff provided the initial group leader training of Harmony House staff and since then Harmony House has been adapting the model to suit Chinese culture. Presently, laws in Hong Kong do not enable courts to mandate abusers to attend programs though this has been recommended by leading researchers and practitioners there. Recent surveys in Hong Kong have shown a high incidence of both spouse abuse and child abuse. This has led to new laws that have significantly expanded protections for battered women and children. The Hong Kong Council of Human Services has taken a leading role in promoting coordinated community responses to domestic violence.

During their first week of work in Hong Kong, David and Ted provided a one day seminar on coordinated community responses to criminal justice and human service professionals sponsored by the Hong Kong Council of Human Services.

They also provided a three-day training for counselors recruited by the Council. During the second week, David and Ted provided advanced group leader training at Harmony House and observed video tapes of their groups. A preliminary research study by Hong Kong University has found these groups to be effective in reducing domestic violence and helping abusive men to identify more positive ways of communicating with their partners. Emerge’s agreement with Harmony House calls for reviews of the model and refresher trainings every two years.

Emerge would like to thank Harmony House Executive Director Margaret Wong, and Elsa Chiu of the Hong Kong Council of Human Services for their leadership in bringing about this exciting new cross cultural collaboration to help men become more responsible partners and parents.

To Learn More About Harmony House...

Emerge is a Member of...

Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Emerge is a Certified Batterer Intervention program through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. For more information on Massachusetts state certification requirements and specific state information, CLICK HERE!

Community Works
Community Works is made up of many progressive non-profit organizations, including Jane Doe, Inc., the Massachusetts Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition. Community Works is a cooperative fundraising effort among community-based organizations dedicated to progressive social change. Through a shared workplace payroll deduction campaign, they increase benefits to everyone. Community Works is an opportunity for people to share resources, skills and ideas as we learn to address and resolve the problems facing our communities. For more information, CLICK HERE!

Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan (BISCMI)
In November 2005, BISCMI hosted a national gathering of batterer intervention providers and related resources. Emerge presented workshops and was part of discussion forums throughout the conference. During the course of this, Emerge took the opportunity to join this coalition in order to help promote abuser education throughout the nation. For more information, CLICK HERE!

Caring Dads ~ Fatherhood Program
In our February newsletter, we featured Emerge's fatherhood program. Our program uses the Caring Dads curriculum created in London, Ontario. For more information on their model, CLICK HERE! Or call our office to learn more about how Emerge uses this model of working with fathers.

Just Give
As with other non-profit organizations, Emerge is able to maintain its services in part through generous donations from the community. If you enjoy this newsletter and other services provided by Emerge, we would love to have your support through purchase of materials, attendance at trainings, or donations through this program. If you are interested in donating, or would like to see other organizations featured in Just Give, CLICK HERE!

Idealist
Emerge is a member of Idealist, a center for non-profit organizations to list opportunities and organizational details. For anyone interested in learning more about Emerge, what better way to learn than to help out around our office? Interns and volunteers can help out with many different projects including observing group sessions, conducting national surveys, entering client data into our unique database, helping out with mailings and other day to day tasks. For more information on available opportunities, CLICK HERE!

Thank you for taking the time to read more about what's going on at Emerge. We hope that you will find this newsletter interesting, challenging and informative. Please feel free to forward this to your friends and colleagues by using the link at the bottom, and drop us an e-mail if you have any questions, comments or just want to say hello!

We'd also love to hear about your experiences working with abusers - articles you've written, resources you've found helpful, success stories, etc. - so please be sure to e-mail us with anything you think might speak to the topics of working to educate abusers and stop domestic violence.

Warm Regards,

 

All your friends at Emerge