Narrative Therapy: Abuse Intervention Program
Narrative Therapy
Group Manuals for Men Who Have Perpetrated Abuse ©
(Manuals are available in English and French)
By Tod Augusta-Scott (2008)
“ [Bridges] has produced a batterer intervention manual that reflects a paradigm shift. The work with men using a narrative perspective reflects a new and exciting direction for the field.”– Peter Lehmann, co-editor of Strengths-Based Batterer Intervention: A New Paradigm in Ending Family Violence |
Facilitator’s Manual
Both Department of Justice in Newfoundland and New Brunswick use for all their domestic violence clients the group manual Narrative Therapy: Facilitators Manual for men who have perpertrated abuse. The manual has also been taught to individual programs across Canada and Internationally
Summary
This manual is designed to help practitioners integrate narrative ideas and practices into group conversations with men who have perpetrated abuse. Practitioners will find various ways of inviting men to take responsibility for stopping abuse and building respectful relationships.
The manual incorporates a collaborative approach to conversations about the men’s own values as well as the knowledge and skills they have for living as they prefer. This approach is reflected in the collaborative manner in which handouts and certificates (i.e., therapeutic documents) are created in the group sessions. The sessions are written in a manner which externalizes the problem of dominant masculinity.
Individual Sessions
The facilitator’s manual outlines three individual sessions which help prepare men for attending group sessions. These individual sessions provide men with the opportunity to articulate the types of relationships they prefer. These three sessions before group also offer men the opportunity to consider the path of “taking responsibility” for building respectful relationships and stopping abuse before they begin the process.
Group Sessions in Four Stages
The facilitator’s manual then outlines a twenty session group that is divided into four stages.
Stage 1 involves creating a context or foundation for men to study their past abusive behavior.
Stage 2 involves the men creating relapse prevention plans by studying past incidents of abuse.
Upon studying the abuse, Stage 3 of group focuses more directly on studying the effects of abuse.
And, finally, in Stage 4, men are invited to consider possibilities for healing and repairing the effects of their abuse.
Order Form
| Item | # of Manuals | Amount | Name: |
| Facilitator’s Manual ($120 each plus 15% HST) | Address: | ||
| Participant’s Manual ($40 each plus 15% HST) | |||
| Postage (15% of Total) | |||
| Total | |||
Please make cheque payable to Tod Augusta-Scott
Mail cheque and order form to:
Bridges
670 Prince Street, Suite 2
Truro, Nova Scotia, B2N 1G6, Canada
Or fax to 902-897-0569
Individual Sessions
1. Re-authoring identity, Defining values
2. Defining “abuse” and “taking responsibility”
3. Defining distractions to “taking responsibility”
Group Sessions in Four Stages
Stage 1: Preparing to “Take Responsibility”
1. Social expectations: Men’s relationships with men
2. Re-authoring identity, Defining values
3. Defining the problem: Abuse and gender expectations
4. Define “Taking Responsibility”
5. Define Distractions
Stage 2: Formalize Relapse Prevention Plan – Study Past Incidents of Abuse
6. Relapse prevention plan
7. Relapse prevention plan
8. Relapse prevention plan
Stage 3: Studying the effects of Abuse
9. Internalized-other interview
10. Internalized-other interview
11. Internalized-other interview
12. Internalized-other interview
Stage 4: Demonstrate Respect – Healing/Repairing the Effects of Abuse
13. Demonstrating Respect
14. Listening – hearing what she feels, thinks, wants
15. Sharing – saying what you feel, think, want
16. Economic Respect/Economic Abuse
17. Sexual Respect/Sexual Abuse
18. Letter of Apology
19. Certificate Preparation
20. Evaluation
Participant’s Manual
The participant’s manual gives men common responses to various questions that they can consider for themselves before and after group sessions. These “common responses” provide what Michael White (2007) describes as “horizontal scaffolding” for men to construct their own responses. The three-ring binder format also allows men to easily add to the manual the handouts and other therapeutic documents they make with other men in group. In this way, men become co-authors of their own manual.