Welcome!
These first issues of
our newsletter have
given us an opportunity
to feature some of our
upcoming plans for
articles and ways to
communicate our
approaches to batterer
intervention.
Thanks to those of you
who have taken an
interest in our e-mails,
and welcome to those who
have just joined! In
this issue, we are
highlighting our
services for Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender abusers,
highlighting our
upcoming Advanced
Training, and giving a
description of an
educational tool we use
during our group
sessions.
Please be sure to call
or e-mail us if you have
any questions or
comments or would just
like to say hello!
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Upcoming
Training for
Advanced
Group
Intervention
Skills
Coming
March 16-17,
2006!
Three times
per year,
near our
Cambridge
office, we
provide an
Advanced
Group Skills
training for
counselors
who want to
improve
their
skills.
This
training is
an
opportunity
to learn
more
specific
details on
how to use
the Emerge
model to
intervene in
abusive
behavior.
This
includes
watching
actual
videotapes
of Emerge
group
sessions in
order to see
the group
interventions
in action.
Also, as a
part of this
training, we
will spend
time giving
group
participants
a chance to
present
information
on difficult
group
situations
they have
experienced.
They receive
feedback and
participate
in a
creative
discussion
and planning
on how to
deal with
problem
clients or
supervision
issues.
This
training is
designed for
people who
have
previously
attended
Emerge's
Introductory
3-day
training. It
can also be
useful for
people who
want to
start
incorporating
some of
Emerge's
tools into
their own
interventions,
even if they
have been
trained in a
different
model of
abuser
intervention
or group
work. People
who have
purchased
Emerge
materials,
but would
like more
direction on
how to use
them may
also find
this
training
beneficial.
The learning
objectives
include:
-
Becoming
more
knowledgeable
about
later-stage
group
interventions
-
Through
case
conferences,
identifying
effective
interventions
for
common
group
process
challenges
-
Learning
new
educational
techniques
and
strategies
Emerge is
also
offering
this
training on
June
29-30, 2006
and
September
21-22, 2006
near our
Cambridge
office. We
are also
available to
present this
and other
trainings in
your state.
Please
contact Ted
German, our
Director of
Training at
our office
at
617-547-9879
or at
tedemerge@aol.com
for more
details.
To register
for this or
other Emerge
trainings...
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LGBT
Abusers at
Emerge
~Part
One: A
History~
Over the
past 15
years,
Emerge has
developed
services for
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual and
Transgender
(LGBT)
abusers. We
have seen
the need for
services
since the
1980's,
however,
LGBT victim
services
were just
becoming
organized.
Due to
Emerge's
belief that
services
need to be
in place for
victims
before
there are
services for
abusers, we
held off on
adding such
groups to
our program
offerings.
Emerge
supported
the
development
of The
Network for
Battered
Lesbians and
actually had
some
organizational
meetings at
our former
office
space.
Emerge was
one of the
founding
members of
the Same Sex
Domestic
Violence
Coalition
and worked
to educate
the
community
about LGBT
domestic
violence and
advocate for
more victim
services in
the
community.
In the 90's,
Emerge also
worked with
lesbian
abusers on
an
individual
bases as a
way to
conduct
services
before there
were enough
members to
form a
group. In
1995, we
started our
first group
session for
lesbian and
bisexual
women and
the first
group ranged
from three
to nine
group
members.
Five years
later, in
2000, we
began seeing
gay male
abusers
individually
and then in
group
sessions.
Working with
LGBT abusers
required
some changes
in Emerge's
40 session
curriculum.
Since LGBT
victims are
often
incorrectly
referred for
abuser
services,
the
thoroughness
and
open-mindedness
of our
initial
orientation
and
assessment
became more
important.
We use the
same Emerge
curriculum
but adapt
some of the
exercises to
reflect LGBT
cultural
differences.
In the next
issue of our
newsletter,
we will
highlight
some of the
specific
differences,
speak to the
idea of
cultural
representation
of group
leaders, and
talk about
the concept
of primary
aggressors.
Our website
information
on LGBT
services...
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An
Advanced
Group
Activity:
"Creating
Individual
Feedback
Goals"
By
Christopher
Hall, Group
Leader
During my
time as a
group leader
at Emerge,
I've tried
to use the
individualized
intervention
approaches
that are
critical to
the Emerge
model. All
of us at
Emerge
attempt to
develop
activities
that will
engage and
motivate
group
members.
This is a
description
of our
development
of one of
these
activities,
"Creating
Individual
Feedback
Goals."
During group
sessions, we
take
extensive
notes on
what each
group member
says about
their
relationship,
as well as
how and what
they
identify as
personal
goals to
stop their
destructive
and harmful
behavior.
What I began
to notice is
that I would
ask group
members what
they
specifically
wanted to do
to change,
and record
that in my
group notes.
As a result
of
discussions
in
supervision
about this
topic, I
started
(along with
my
co-leaders)
to conduct a
new activity
on a regular
basis. We
would ask
each group
member to
tell us what
they
wanted to
learn and
work on
during their
time in the
program by
simply
asking,
"What would
you like
feedback on
during your
time at
Emerge?"
Initially, I
was wary of
their
answers, and
concerned
that the
whole idea
could
backfire.
Amazingly,
it did not.
Group
members came
up with very
concrete and
attainable
feedback
goals for
themselves.
What was
fascinating
about this
was that
after giving
us these
answers,
they were
much less
defensive.
When we
reminded
them of what
feedback
they wanted
during group
discussions,
they were
more willing
to talk
about
challenging
topics and
give each
other direct
and
respectful
feedback.
We keep
their
individual
group
feedback
lists posted
on newsprint
in the group
room. Group
members can
more easily
give each
other
feedback and
get involved
in group
discussions
when they
can see each
other's
feedback
goals.
We discuss
this
activity and
more during
our Advanced
Training
(mentioned
above), and
I would
encourage
anyone who
would be
interested
in more
specifics
about this
or other
activities
to contact
me at our
office at
617-547-9879
or e-mail us
at emergedv@aol.com
More About
Emerge Group
Activities...
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Thank you again for your
support and continued
interest in Emerge! At this
point, we are highlighting
some of the features we will
include in specifc interest
category newsletters. At
some point in the future, we
hope to write more detailed
newsletters to specific
interest groups, so please
take the time to indicate
your interests by
clicking this link
and letting us know what you
are interested in hearing
more about!
We also hope to feature
submissions from people
around the nation (or from
other countries) who are
working to end domestic
violence. Please e-mail us
with ideas, specific
questions or your own
written materials to include
in future submissions.
Best Regards!
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