Addressing Intimate Partner Violence: Ethical Dimensions

DO YOU SUSPECT THAT A CLIENT IS STRUGGLING with intimate partner violence (IPV)? IPV is often a secret and frequently camouflaged when clients seek individual and couples counseling. It’s also tragically ubiquitous. According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, IPV affects one in two women, one in four men, and equal or even higher rates of transgender and non-binary individuals. Clinicians working in mental health and addiction treatment settings often notice signs that suggest IPV, but they don’t know how to assess or respond helpfully given the volatility of the situation.

As part of the ethical imperative to support client welfare, all clinicians have an obligation to recognize the signs of IPV, to assess danger, and to respond without making an unsafe situation worse. But addressing IPV can raise dilemmas related to confidentiality, informed consent, self-determination, and client welfare. Without knowledge and skill, there is the hazard of clinicians causing harm.

Facilitated by Matt Johnston, LPC, CADC II and Rachelle Scheele, this one-day, in-person, scenario-driven workshop, integrating consumer voices, explores the ethical dimensions of individual or couples counseling with clients when IPV is suspected but not the referring problem.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this day-long, scenario-driven ethics workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify signs of intimate partner violence when working with clients in individual or couples counseling when it is not the referring problem;
• Grapple with common misconceptions about IPV that interfere with effective practice;
• Use clinically sound strategies to screen for IPV and assess danger;
• Understand the difficulties of entering counseling from the perspectives of consumers impacted by IPV; and
• Analyze ethical dilemmas that emerge when working with IPV including equity considerations, client self-determination, confidentiality, and informed consent.

SIX CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (ethics) through the National Association of Social Workers (Oregon).

BIPOC REPARATIONS DISCOUNT: If you identify as a member of BIPOC communities, you are entitled to a 25% discount.

MILITARY DISCOUNT: If you served in the military, either currently or in the past, or you are a military spouse, there is a 25% discount.

GRADUATE STUDENT DISCOUNT: If you are currently in graduate school in a clinical discipline and wish to register, there is a 25% discount.

Contact the EVENT ORGANIZER at the bottom of the page for discount codes.

Rachelle Scheele is a seasoned community organizer, gender justice advocate, and domestic violence activist. She has led a nonprofit for almost a decade, providing peer support and restorative justice to Survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She teaches frequently across the region on workjing effectively with IPV survivors. Recently, she founded Allied Brands Collective, a social enterprise that not only continues the advocacy work of her nonprofit but also takes a step further by empowering Survivor entrepreneurs.

Matt Johnston, LPC, CADC II works in private practice in North Portland. He has worked in the domestic violence field since 2004, especially with people convicted of domestic violence offenses. Matt also serves on the Board of Survivor Collective Alliance Reaching Society (SCARS) as the Survivor Impact Panel (SIP) Coordinator.

Host or Publisher Wayne Scott, MA, LCSW