Educational Objectives:

The overall goal of this course is to help psychotherapists understand the complexities involved in domestic violence and enable them to make predictions, assessments and interventions in these volatile and often tragic situations.
This course will teach psychotherapists to
• Utilize spousal and partner abuse assessments.
• Detect and identify domestic violence.
• Apply domestic violence interventions.
• Identify community and other resources.
• Summarize the complex system involved in domestic violence.
• Specify cultural, same gender, and other factors in domestic violence.
• Identify and update the relevant California laws and Ethics codes and ethical decision-making.

Course Syllabus:

• Personality Characteristics and the Battered Woman Syndrome
  • Battered Women's Personality and the Debate over the DSM
  • Psychological Assessment and Measurements
  • Battered Women Syndrome, Self Esteem and Depression
• Male Batterers
  • Incidence, Characteristics, & Types of Batterers
  • Investigation, Prosecution, & Interventions
  • Factors: Society, Culture, & Family
  • Attrition
• Lenore Walker's Cycle of Violence
  • Assessment of the Cycle of Violence
  • Theoretical Implications, Research, & Interventions
• The Abusive Personality and Alcohol and Drug Use
  • Alcohol and Wife Assault
  • Empirical Studies
• Intervention Strategies
  • Male Spouse Abuse Sub-Type
  • Evolution of Treatment Approaches: Client-Centered, Self Psychology, and Dynamic Approaches
  • The Compassion Workshop & Solution-Focused Approaches
• Psychotherapeutic Responses to Violent Relationships
  • Social Responsibility & Shelters
  • Evaluation for Battered Woman Syndrome & Safety Plans
  • Therapeutic Techniques with the Battered and Batterers
• Treatment of Assaultive Men from an Attachment Perspective.
  • Considerations in Treating Assaultive Men
  • The Secure Base in Psychotherapy
  • Exploring Current Relationships with Attachment Figures and the Relationship with the Psychotherapist
• Partner Violence in Ethnic Minority Families
  • African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American Americans: Incidence of Partner Violence among Ethnic Minorities
  • Acculturation, Stereotypes, Barrier to Treatment, & Research Concerns
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Relationships
  • The Prevalence of the Problem
  • Research Findings & The Legal System
  • Availability of (or lack of) Resources & List of Resources
  • The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP)
• California Laws and Regulations, Codes of Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making
  • Sections of California Law that Pertain to Spousal and Partner Abuse
  • Training Requirements
  • APA, CAMFT and NASW Code of Ethics - Codes relevant to Spousal and Partner Abuse
• Resources

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