The Domestic Violence Treatment Progress Assessment (or the D.V.T.P.A.): Great Practice for Successfully Completing DV Treatment

   There are some Important Questions that a person should be able to answer in a meaningful way when they are ready to Discharge from DV Treatment.

  This exercise is intended to help you figure out what else you need to know about in order to Complete DV Treatment.  Please Note: Studying and Completing the attached Worksheet does not mean that you are ready for Discharge.  More so, this is an Exercise to help You and Your Treatment Provider determine when you could be ready for Discharge.

  There are two Parts.  One part is the DV Treatment Progress Assessment (DVTPA).  This instrument helps You and Your Treatment Provider get an idea of Your Progress in Treatment.

  The second Part of this Process is the Aftercare Plan in which one assesses their current state of being in terms of Healthy Relationships and/or possibility of never again having Domestic Violence in his or her life.  Then one makes a plan for how they are going to remain free of DV in the future; as well as remain free of the negative effects of any potential Risk Factors in their lives.  

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TREATMENT PROGRESS ASSESSMENT (DVTPA):

Some Treatment Progress Assessment Items are as follows:

POSSIBLE CHALLENGES To Successfully Completing DV Treatment: (Have you found that your Treatment Progress has been negatively impacted by any of these (or other) potential challenges?):

1. "Not Accountable with community supervision and treatment conditions
2. Using alcohol or illicit drugs
3. Not maintaining stable employment
4. Not maintaining stable living arrangements
5. Not Compliant with psychiatric and medical recommendations
6. Hostility
7. Stalking dynamics/obsession with the victim
8. Suicidal/Homicidal"

 

Competency Areas to Master.  (Think about these Competency Areas.  Where do you stand within the Context of your Treatment, and in terms of Your Treatment Progress?):     

  Keep in mind: Someone might believe that Mastering a competency here means he or she does not ever have to visit it again; or does not have anything else to learn about Healthy Relationships or Preventing DV.  But that's not necessarily true.  Because each new Relationship is going to be different -- Regardless of whether or not it's a Romantic Relationship.  A wise person will be revisiting and gaining new insights into ideas like this possibly for the rest of their life.

1.  "Actively participates in treatment.

2.  Confronts (and/or Supports) others appropriately in group.

3.  Commitment to elimination of abusive behavior.

4.  Eliminates manipulative behavior.

5.  Completes personal change plan drafts and Final Version.

6.  Demonstrates and Acknowledges development of empathy for the Victim.

7.  Accepts full responsibility for offense and abusive behavior.

        *Denial Level (If applicable)

8.  Understands pattern of power and control issues.

9.  Does not view themselves as the victim.

10.  Accepts consequences of abusive behavior.

11.  Challenges cognitive distortions.

12.  Define types of violence.

13.  Identifies & manages personal pattern of violence.

14.  Understanding of inter-generational effects of violence.

15.  Uses appropriate, respectful & effective communication skills.

16.  Offender understands and uses “time-out” & Stop, Breathe & Focus Techniques.

17.  Recognizes financial responsibility.

18.  Not engaging in any known forms of violence & abuse.

19.  Understands distorted view of self, others & relationships.

20. Identifies chronic abusive beliefs about victim and thought patterns that support abusive behavior

21.  Uses pro-social community supports.

22.  Understands cycle of violence.

23. Positive parenting skills with children. (living with biological children)

24. Demonstrates appropriate interaction with children and partner in a co-parenting or step-parenting situation (Client a step-parent or visiting parent)

25.  Understands healthy sexual behaviors & consent."

STRENGTHS: (How are you regarding the following Strengths?):

• "Pro-Social Friends
• Social Activity
• Spirituality
• Happiness
• Creativity
• Fun Time/Hobbies
• Health"

(Davies & Associates)

Another part of this is understanding the basic Principles of Equality in Relationship:

• Trust and Support:  Supporting her/his goals in life. Respecting her/his right to her/his own feelings, friends, activities, and opinions. 

• Respect: Listening to her/his non-judgmentally.  Being emotionally affirming and understanding.  Valuing her/his opinions.  This term essentially means valuing each others points of views. It means being open to being wrong. It means accepting people as they are.  It means not dumping on someone because you're having a bad day.  It means being polite and kind always, because being kind to people is not negotiable.  It means not dissing people because they're different to you.  It means not gossiping about people or spreading lies.

• Negotiation and Fairness: Seeking mutually satisfying resolutions to conflict.  Accepting changes.  Being willing to compromise.

• Responsible Parenting: Sharing parental responsibilities.  Being a positive, nonviolent role model for the children.

• Non-Threatening Behavior: Talking and acting so that she feels safe and comfortable expressing her/his-self and doing things.

• Shared Responsibility: Mutually agreeing on a fair distribution of work.  Making family decisions together.

• Economic Partnership: Making money decisions together.  Making sure both partners benefit from financial arrangements.

• Honesty and Accountability: Accepting responsibility for self.  Acknowledging past use of violence. Admitting being wrong. Communicating openly and truthfully.

The Third Part of this process if keeping an Ongoing Personal Change Plan:

• Am I ready to Make Changes in my mind that would allow for me agreeing to this?   I hereby commit to eliminate abusive behavior; which includes the use of physical intimidation or violence, coercion, emotional, verbal or economic abuse, or psychological cruelty toward my spouse, partner and/or children.  If I do behave abusively in the future, I consider it my responsibility to report the behaviors honestly to my friends, relatives, probation officer or other interested party who will hold me accountable.

• Am I ready to Make Changes and Make Room for this?  The way I am going to prevent abusive behavior of any kind is by:

• Am I ready to Make Changes and Make Room for this?  The way I am going to change my thinking so my thoughts and behaviors will be healthy is by:

• Am I ready to Make Changes and Make Room for this?  If I realize I am in danger of becoming abusive I will do the following:

The Fourth Part of this Process is Aftercare Planning:  

AFTERCARE PLANNING is the act of Planning for how one will care for himself or herself after Treatment is completed so as to never again commit DV-Type Behaviors and therefore never again end up with a DV-related Charge. Hence, the overall question is: Have you developed an Aftercare Plan that could help you do the following:

A. Continue to be fully Accountable your previous DV Offense? 

B. Continue to heal from your previous DV Offense?  and

C. Continue to make changes to your life that will help you better prevent DV-Type Behaviors and Offenses in the future? 

   Here, take a look at the following questions and think about how you might answer them: 

(Questions to consider as you move along successfully include)

1.  "What effect has this domestic violence offender treatment program had on your life?

2.  What changes have you noticed about yourself, you relationship, your lifestyle, or your attitude from when you first started treatment until now?

3.  What did you learn about the cycle of violence?

4.  What are the consequences of violence?

5.  How do you communicate with your partner and express your feelings?

6.  Describe the steps you use when taking a “time out”?

7.  What do you take responsibility for in your specific domestic violence incident?

8.  What are you major goals in your personal relationships?  (3 or more)

9.  What have you done to make amends to the victim?

10. What are options you have to acting out violently? (activities, exercise, meditation, etc.)

11. Who are the people that you rely on to help you understand your thoughts and feelings?  Talk about how they are supportive to you."

12. Name three general attitudes or ways of thinking that you plan to hold in order to keep yourself from ever again committing DV-Type Behaviors or being charged with a DV-related Offense.  

(SLVBHG)

*** Please CLICK HERE to

Complete your Adapted DVTPA Worksheet *** 

Please CLICK HERE to Complete

Your Session Feedback Form!!!

*** AND Once have completed the above, 

you can CLICK HER TO move on to 

the Treatment Planning for Success Section. ***

Sources: 

(DVTPA by Davies and Associates)

(AFTER CARE PLAN Questions by SLVBHG)

 (c. 2020, William T. Beverly, Ph.D., LCSW, All information on the Blog (Except where otherwise noted); are the intellectual and/or photographic and/or digital property of Dr. William T. Beverly, L.C.S.W., DVOMB Approved Offender Treatment Provider.).

Risk Factors for DV Re-Offense or DV Recidivism

 Everyone who is participating in this Domestic Violence Offender Treatment has had at least one DV-Related Offense.  Unfortunately, the fact from the Research is that once a person has one DV-Related Offense; they are quite possibly at a higher Risk of Re-Offending than a person who has never had a DV-Related Offense.
 So, What's worse than one DV Offense?  

 Another DV Offense.  This is not a joke!  Right?

  It is the mission of your DV Offender Treatment Provider to try and help make sure that you never Re-Offend.

  We take this mission very seriously. 

  One way to avoid a problem is to fully understand the problem.  Therefore, we are going to talk about some of the problems that the Research indicates are often present when a person with a prior DV Offense, ends up catching another DV Offense.  These are called, "Risk Factors".

  Below are Some possible Risk Factors that are specifically indicated as potentially putting a person who already has a DV Offense at risk of a DV Re-Offense or Recidivism.  If I were you, I would take a long, serious and sincere look at this list and think critically -- "Does this potential Risk Factor relate to me, to my life, to my relationships?"  
  And then I would start thinking about good ways that I can make sure that this Risk Factor can no longer put me at a Higher Risk of having any Domestic Violence -Type Thinking, DV-Type Behaviors, or Re-Offenses.

  These Potential Risk Factors for Re-Offense Include the following: 

•       Dropping out of treatment before treatment is completed,
• 
  
•       Fewer sessions completed,
• 
  
•       Younger in age,
• 
  
•       Unemployed,
• 
  
•       Less education,
• 
  
•       History of More psychological Abuse,
• 
  
•       History of More anger,
• 
  
•       History of More depression,
• 
  
•       Unchanged attitudes about women,
• 
  
•       Lower sense of respect,
• 
  
•       History of Using more discussion (Unable or Unwilling to Take Time Outs or to use Stop, Breathe, and Focus when a conversation is becoming Disrespectful),
• 
  
•       Failure to complete treatment,
• 
  
•       Lower social support (Not enough Emotional, Tangible or Instrumental Social Supports in one's life),
• 
  
•       Lower internal locus of control (Less ability to own my own thoughts and/or actions)
• 
  
•       Higher perceived stress,
• 
  
•       Poor problem solving skills,
• 
  
•       Poor communication skills (Difficulty Communicating Respectfully when Angry, Upset, Insecure or Unhappy),
• 
  
•       Lower feminist awareness (Lower Awareness about Sexism or the Impact of Oppression on Victims),
• 
  
•       Lower awareness of ones psycho-dynamics (Ego, Id, Super-Ego + Social),
• 
  
•       Poor alliance with therapist, (Unable or Unwilling to Trust or Be Genuine with the Therapist)
• 
  
•       Personality disorders including: Borderline, Avoidant, Antisocial, Self-Defeating, Schizoid, Aggressive/Sadistic, and Passive-Aggressive; Increased psychopathic traits or tendencies, or Narcissistic.
• 
  
•       Substance Abuse difficulties,
• 
  
•       Poor family relations,
• 
  
•       Child behavior problems (Having a Child with serious problems; and/or having a History of serious behavior problems as a child),
• 
  
•       Having a child with the victim,
• 
  
•       Lower Social Economic Status in Community,
• 
  
•       Lower Socio-Economic Status,
• 
  
•       Having been abused as a child, and
• 
  
•       History of Trauma.
• 
  

  For each of the Risk Factors Above, one should be able to make a suggestion as to what a person could or should do to help make sure that this Risk Factor will not contribute to them having any more Domestic Violent-type Thinking or Behaviors as well as Re-offending.

  *** Please CLICK HERE to Complete your 

Risk Factors for DV Re-Offense Worksheet ***

  Also!  Be sure to complete your Session Feedback Form (below), as well as an Absence Attestation Form for each one of your Absences.

PLEASE CLICK HERE to Complete

your Session Feedback Form!!!

Sources: 

(Retrieved 1/6/2020 from: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=psychfacpub

Domestic violence treatment response and recidivism: A review and implications for the study of family violence

Robert M. Sartin; University of Nebraska–Lincoln, rmsartin@syr.edu

David J. Hansen; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, dhansen1@unl.edu

Matthew T. Huss; Creighton University, mhuss@creighton.edu

University of Nebraska – Lincoln; DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Faculty Publications, Department of Psychology, Department of Psychology).

 (c. 2020, William T. Beverly, Ph.D., LCSW, All information on the Blog (Except where otherwise noted); are the intellectual and/or photographic and/or digital property of Dr. William T. Beverly, L.C.S.W., DVOMB Approved Offender Treatment Provider.).

Developing Ownership of Your DV Treatment & Your Future: What is Your Explanatory Model?

  This sounds CRAZY!!!  But... THIS IS YOUR LIFE... right???  This week's Module is about You. This week's lesson is about you taking ownership of YOUR DV Treatment.    Ownership???  Say Wha....???  

  In Business, a Sense of Ownership can be defined as: "the level of attention that an owner focuses on their business. A sense of ownership is the differentiated mentality of people who want to see their company thrive, ensuring stability, profits and growth." (Source).  

  Whereas, in DV Offender Treatment, the term "Ownership" means: 'The level of attention that a DV Client focuses on his or her progress in DV Treatment.  A sense of Ownership is the differential mentality of DV Treatment Consumers who want to see themselves thrive, ensuring stability, good fortune and growth -- particularly in terms of his or her relationships.'   

  The idea here today is intended to facilitate the following about Your Treatment: 

 --- For Dr. B to be able to Explain the treatment in a way that makes sense to you;

 --- For us (both you and Dr. B) to set positive expectations about your DV treatment;

 --- For us to set realistic expectations for DV treatment;

 --- For us to Address key concerns about your DV Offense; and

 --- For us to counteract any catastrophic expectations that you might have about your DV Offense and subsequent Treatment.  (Source)

Why does any of this matter?  

  In order to truly Engage in DV Treatment and to get the most out of DV Treatment a person needs to develop a sense of Ownership about his or her Treatment; and this will lead to a deeper and more thorough understanding of their DV Offense and their DV Treatment.  

  In short, this process is designed to help you get the most out of your DV Treatment by helping you develop a sense of familiarity and ownership of your DV Treatment -- as well as better sense about ways to prevent DV in the future.

What is My Explanatory Model?  

  Or better still: What is your Explanatory Model for your DV Offense and Subsequent Treatment?  An Explanatory Model can be defined as: "A useful description of why and how a thing works or an explanation of why a phenomenon is the way it is. The explanatory model is used as a substitute for "the full explanation" of the thing in question: because the full explanation is unavailable."   (Source)

  In Healthcare, an Explanatory Model can be viewed as: "the manner in which patients explain their health conditions and consequences. Much theoretical work has been done in health psychology/behavior medicine on this topic, and it has been applied to prediction of patient coping and adherence with treatments and to prediction of disease outcomes" (Source).

Likewise, an Explanatory Model for Dr. B's DV Treatment can be as follows: The Purpose of Dr. B's DV Offender Treatment is to help a person get to where they are less likely than before, to ever again have DV-Type Thinking, DV-Type Feeling or DV-Type Behaving in their life.  Additionally, the purpose includes that idea that should a person find himself or herself again at-risk for  DV-Type behavior, he or she will have resources that are intended to help him or her get the help they need in order to prevent any future DV Offenses.  In this way, a primary purpose of DV Offender Treatment is to help people never again fall victim to; have to witness; or to be charged with a DV-type Offense. 

  So what's all this about "Explanatory Models"?  

  Well, in 1978, Kleinman and associates (1978) published a paper that discussed the importance of the explanatory model.  They wrote:

“Eliciting the patient’s (explanatory) model gives the physician knowledge of the beliefs the patient holds about his illness, the personal and social meaning he attaches to his disorder, his expectations about what will happen to him and what the doctor will do, and his own therapeutic goals.

Comparison of patient model with the doctor’s model enables the clinician to identify major discrepancies that may cause problems for clinical management. Such comparisons also help the clinician know which aspects of his explanatory model need clearer exposition to patients (and families), and what sort of patient education is most appropriate. And they clarify conflicts not related to different levels of knowledge but different values and interests. Part of the clinical process involves negotiations between these explanatory models, once they have been made explicit.” (Source). 

"Psychiatrist and anthropologist Arthur Kleinman’s theory of explanatory models (EMs) proposes that individuals and groups can have vastly different notions of health and disease. Kleinman proposed that instead of simply asking patients, “Where does it hurt,” the physicians should focus on eliciting the patient’s answers to “Why,” “When,” “How,” and “What Next.” (Source).

"Kleinman suggests the following questions to learn how your patient sees his or her illness" (Source).

  (Now, go back to the previous passage about Kleinman's work, and re-read the passage.  But this time; every time you find terms such as "health conditions and consequences" and "disease" and "illness"; consider instead substituting the phrases "Domestic Violence Offense", "Ways of DV-type thinking", "Deep-Rooted Destructive Emotions that lead to DV", and/or "Behavior Patterns that lead to DV Offenses").

Kleinman's Eight Questions as a way to bring forth a Client's Explanatory Model:

   Now, please consider this modified Example of "Arthur Kleinman's Eight Questions" (below).  Now it is 11 (Eleven) Questions, as Adapted by Dr. B for DV Offender Treatment and DV Prevention.  Give each question a shot to help develop your own Explanatory Model.  Dr. B's Eleven Questions for Persons in DV Offender Treatment are as follows:

  I know different people have different ways of understanding the Challenges that a DV Offender Faces — please help me understand how you see things.

1.  What do you call DV and/or your DV Offense?

• What name does it have?

2.  What do you think causes DV and/or caused your DV Offense?

3.  Why do you think DV and/or your DV Offense started when it did?

4.  What does DV and/or your DV Offense do to you?  

• How does it work?

5.  How severe is (or was) your DV Offense?

• Will it have a short or long Impact on your life?                                             
• Will it have a short or long Impact on the lives of others? 

6.  What do you fear most about DV and/or your DV Offense?

7.  What are the chief problems that DV and/or your DV Offense have caused for you?

8.  What kind of treatment do you think you should receive?

• What are the most important results you hope to receive from treatment?

                  9.  What experiences do you feel that your Partner (the "victim") has had                                                       in relation to your DV Offense?

                10.  What experiences do you feel that your Children and/or your family have had                                         in relation to your DV Offense?

                11.  What experiences do you feel that your Community has had                                                                      in relation to your DV Offense?

*** Please Click Here to Complete your 

             Owning Your DV Treatment Worksheet ***

> Please also CLICK Here to Complete your Session Feedback Form. < 

Sources and Further Reading:  

• The APA's "Cultural Formulation Interview" (Source).
• The Respect Model (Source).
• "Dr. B's Eleven Questions for persons in DV Offender Treatment" --   Adapted from, Kleinman A., Eisenberg L., Good B. Culture, illness, and care: clinical lessons from anthropological and cross-cultural research. Ann Intern Med 1978;88:251–88.
• *** Other sources may be listed above in Link-form, just click on any of the "Source" links above to go to their original pages.

This Article was Originally Published 11/9/2020

(c. 2020, All information on this Blog, Affiliated Blogs and linked Worksheets (Except where otherwise noted); are the intellectual                                                    and/or photographic and/or digital property of Dr. William T. Beverly, L.C.S.W., DVOMB Approved Offender Treatment Provider.)