Counseling Services
Group counseling for men and who have anger management problems in
intimate relationships
- Group size 10 - 12 participants
- Co-facilitated by male-female teams
- 2-hour meetings are held weekly
- A minimum of 1 year is recommended
Individual counseling for survivors and perpetrators of abusive
relationships, rape survivors, adults abused as children and adolescents in
abusive relationships.
Couples and family counseling are available only after a period of safety
has been established and both individuals and the counselor(s) have been
consulted. This is not recommended initially for several reasons:
- The safety of the battered person.
- Addressing power and dominance in relationships is handled more
effectively in a group setting in which other members can be both supportive
and confrontive.
- It is easy to confuse an individual dynamic (the abuse) with an
interactive problem (disagreements regarding parenting, finances, etc.).
- We want battering individuals to take responsibility for their behavior
and that will not happen until their self-esteem is elevated. Abusers will
not feel better about themselves if they are constantly confronted in the
presence of the person they injure.
GROUPS FOR MALE ABUSERS
(Available in Long Beach and West Los Angeles)
You may be an abuser if you...
- Have an explosive temper
- Threaten, criticize and put down your partner a lot
- Have broken or thrown things, hit, shoved, kicked or grabbed your
partner
- Are very jealous
- Are protective of your partner to the point of being controlling
- Drink heavily or use drugs
- Suffer from low self-esteem and therefore may devalue others in order to
feel valuable
- Believe the problems in the relationship are really the other's fault
- Have difficulty expressing your feelings
- Sulk silently or refuse to talk about an issue when upset
