NCJ Number
176950
Date Published
1997
Length
202 pages
Annotation
Activities in this guide are designed to help women who have experienced domestic abuse; the approaches have been developed in consultation with women's shelters, victim advocates, domestic abuse survivors, and corrections professionals and practitioners.
Abstract
The guide is intended for use by counselors and others who work with women who have been abused by male partners. The guide includes a collection of group sessions from counseling, support, and advocacy sessions with battered women at the Wilder Community Assistance Program in St. Paul, Minnesota. The guide describes the process used by this program and special issues that typically arise in conducting group sessions. The group sessions represent the core element involved in helping women understand and recover from the abuse they have experienced. The guide has three sections: (1) description of the history, philosophy, and goals of the Minnesota program for battered women; (2) group session topics and activities; and (3) appendixes that contain reproducible forms and other useful materials. Chapters in the guide specifically deal with abuse patterns, what keeps women in abusive relationships, emotional abuse, common experiences of battered women, the impact of abuse on children, women and sexuality, characteristics of men who batter, shame and guilt, grief and loss, depression, self-care, healthy relationships, and evaluating new relationships.