1st Edition
Domestic Violence Treatment for Abusive Women A Treatment Manual
Most therapists have experience with wives, girlfriends, and children of violent men, never suspecting that domestic violence offenders can be women too. In Domestic Violence Treatment for Abusive Women, Bowen challenges us to re-think our gender and violence constructs and guides clinicians through the emerging field of treatment of female abusers.
Unlike other books designed for male clients that may be adapted to women, this book is specifically written for use with women, with handouts and exercises created from the author’s own clinical experience. It is deliberately designed to give clinicians knowledge to deal with all aspects of female domestic violence, from dealing with their first client to filling out paperwork correctly. The first part of the book is dedicated to defining female violence and helping readers overcome pre-existing gender stereotypes. The second part provides a framework for everything a therapist needs in order to set up and facilitate a domestic violence treatment program for women. As a whole, Domestic Violence Treatment for Abusive Women helps the licensed mental health professional understand women’s domestic violence and offers step-by-step direction for successful therapy.
Part I: Theory. Understanding Domestic Violence. Theoretical Foundations for Treatment. Effective Treatment. Diagnostic Issues and Categories. Practice Issues, Cultural Competence, Ethical Considerations. Use of this Therapy with Other Groups. Part II: Practice. Before Group: Setting the Stage for Change to Occur. Record Keeping and Administration Forms. Facilitating the Group: Getting Started. Using Binder Handouts to Facilitate Growth and Change. Appendices.
Biography
Ellen L. Bowen, LCSW, BCD, is a clinical social worker and co-founder of NOVA Non-Violent Alternatives, a 52-week treatment program for domestic violence offenders.
"This timely and practical treatment manual is based on the author's many years of clinical experience and solid, up-to-date research on the characteristics, context and etiology of intimate partner abuse. It assumes, correctly, that violence by women ought to be taken seriously, and offers a number of research-based, systemic, multi-faceted and pragmatic startegies with which to address this significant social problem."-John Hamel, LCSW, private practice, San Rafael and Walnut Creek, CA, author of Family Interventions in Domestic Violence
"Ellen Bowen has made an important contribution to recognizing that domestic violence is not only male-perpetrated but that females too need treatment for intimate abusiveness. The psychological issues driving intimate partner violence, attachment insecurity and ego deficits cut across gender lines and require a psychologically informed treatment-Ellen Bowen provides that at long last."-Don Dutton, author of The Abusive Personality and Rethinking Domestic Violence
