Pre-Conference Institute

These six comprehensive, day-long sessions are led by industry experts and designed to complement your Bridging Perspectives Conference experience. 

Whereas the Conference emphasizes the opportunity to share with other fields

of focus, the Pre-Conference Sessions are about deep training and exposure to addressing intervening with men who batter with people from the same field of

focus and in the same contexts.  We carefully chose learning tracks to address

both systems involved professionals as well as community related professionals.

This is the chance to be current with the work being done by other professionals in similar fields as yours.  Attend Pre-Conference Sessions and walk away with expert advice and knowledge you can apply in your job tomorrow.

 

Learning Tracks

Track 1
Batterer Intervention Program Professionals: Opportunities for Dialogue

Track coordinator(s):  Dr. Dave Mathews, Dr. Rhea Almeida, Alyce LaViolette, Graham Barnes,  David Garvin, Dr. Antonio Ramirez

Within this track those who have years of experience in the field of providing batterer intervention programs (BIPs) as well as those new to the field will have the opportunity to gather for presentations specifically aimed at and customized for BIPs.   Some of these PreConference sessions will include facilitated discussion on topics such as: Defining Program Success – Program Participant Success, Gender or Genderless Focus in BIPs, Using Restorative Practices with Men Who Batter, Collaborating with Advocates and Shelter Programs, Defining Terms like Accountability and Responsibility, Aftercare Programs for BIP Participants, Responsible Fatherhood Components for Current BIPs, Being a Resource to other Fields and Professions, BIPs in Correctional Facilities, Expanding on Some Historically Based Approaches and Thinking about the Dynamics and Cycle of Violence, or Sharing Strategies that Seem to Work .  Professionals from the BIP field will either present new and innovative perspectives, tools and strategies or they will facilitate the discussion among those in attendance on the topic. Whatever session you choose in this track, it promises to challenge your thinking and perhaps even expand your knowledge and increase your expertise for working with men who batter.  

 

Track 2
Probation & Parole: On the Front Lines of Domestic Violence Intervention
Track coordinator(s):  Nancy Halverson and Shawna Johnson 

From initial assessment and presentence investigation, to supervision and coordination of offender re-entry into the community, probation officers have a crucial role to play in victim safety and offender change and accountability.  This one day workshop is designed to bring the most current research and innovative practices to the community corrections professional who is seeking to work effectively with this difficult population.

 

Track 3
Victim’s Advocacy
Track coordinator(s):  Mike Poindexter and Lisa Nitch

The ultimate goals’ of Domestic Violence Victims Advocacy and Batterer Intervention Programs have always been parallel; both fields work to end domestic abuse.  The reality however is that these two fields have at times, been at odds in the past.  The different philosophies as to how to best work to end abuse, the competition for resources, and differing beliefs about how families work to resolve the issue of abuse, have all been factors in the division that sometimes has occurred between these two inter-connected fields.  As the field of Victim’s Advocacy moves forward, there is an increasing desire to not only provide safety to those who have been victims of abuse, but also to help create an opportunity for these victims to live free from violence in the future.  To accomplish this goal Victim’s Advocates may look to Batterer Intervention Programs as collaborators, instead of competitors. This one day workshop will address some of the innovative ideas about how these two fields could collaborate, and some examples of programs that are already working together to end Domestic Abuse.

 

Track 4
Mental Health & Social Work
Track coordinator(s):  Dr. Jeff Edleson, Alyce LaViolette, Dr. Bob Gefner, Dr. Dave Mathews

This preconference track will cover a variety of engaging and provocative issues that are often of concern for the mental health professional, clinical social worker or private mental health practitioner: attachment issues, men making transitions, inter-disciplinary collaboration, socio-cultural issues and root causes of domestic abuse and much more! BIP professionals will lend their perspectives, as will mental health professionals who have addressed intimate partner violence and domestic violence from the context of their respective private or clinical practices. The discussions of these topics will no doubt offer attendees a chance to further develop one’s own approach in a clinical setting.

 

Track 5
Child Protection
Track coordinator(s) and Presenter(s): David Mandel and Dr. Fernando Mederos

Child welfare and others interested in the safety and well-being of children have often failed to adequately address the risk and safety concerns represented by men who batter. The "invisibility" of men who batter in the child welfare system leads to ineffective and incomplete case plans for families, unnecessary removals and missed opportunities for partnership with domestic violence survivors.  In this track, David Mandel and Fernando Mederos, along with Jennifer Heil and Ronni Selko- Domestic Violence Consultants associated with the Connecticut Department of Children & Families' Domestic Violence Consultation Initiative, will present the Connecticut and Massachusetts frameworks for approaching domestic violence in the context of child welfare, and strategies for engaging domestic violence perpetrators, developing effective case plans and addressing issues of culture and disproportional representation.

 

Track 6
Clergy As Allies in Preventing Domestic Violence
Track coordinator(s):  Ron Clark and Lois Gunderson

In the past, faith community leaders have struggled to both understand and partner with intimate partner violence (IPV) providers in addressing abusive behavior in their congregations and communities. This one day workshop is designed to help clergy, seminary students, and faith community members understand how to address intimate partner violence and develop prevention and intervention strategies within their congregations.