Witness sworn in . . . she has nothing in her hands . . .
she goes to take water and Wilmot directs her get a cleancup
Alison LaViolet . . . psychotherapist . she does consulting and traini ng and expert witness on occasion . . . private practice - specialty in DV . . . . 2 groups for men who perpetrate DV . . . . couples counseling . . . work with adults, battered women, broad base practice . . .
her education 2 yrs @ Glendale Community College - first Reed Mullen Ford University? . . . campus built there for the 2nd year - went to become a teacher - got interest in psychology . . . bachelors in psychology . . . 8 yrs later went back for Masters . . . .3000 supervised hours, sat for licensing exam for board certification.
got bachelors . . . Bach. in Clinical Psychology and Masters in Community Clinical Psychology . . . . difference between bach & masters is about 2 years . . .. CalState Long Beach - interviewed and selected to be one of 12 people . . . got hired 20 hours per week in practicum . . . she did 10 hrs in neighborhood facility - did tutoring and registered voters - did some hours in battered women shelter - she had known people who had been raped and sexually assaulted . . . . volunteered 10 hrs per week . . .
volunteer @ battered women shelter - she was trained to do different things - work on the hotline - they can call you . . . you listen to them, sometimes make referrals, sometimes recommend they come to the shelter, fundraising for the shelter, casual consulting - just go and speak with the women . . . I did one class on self defense - I had taken one class and I wasn't very good
in 1978 i volunteered @ shelter and 1979 I was hired by the shelter . . . i was hired by shelter to do groups for men who were perpetrators of abuse . . . we did evaluation and found over 80% of women and children went back to their perpetrator . . . .actually I didn't want to do that but I needed a paycheck and a job . . .
I began to do it . . I began to develop the program - once I did the work I really liked it so I stayed with it . . . . taking classes . . . . 3 hrs per week and supervision hours of 3 hrs per week . . working @shelter - starting Mens group - had to do a thesis after completing class work . . . write a research paper - on a topic that your clinical supervisor approves something that would be of intersterest . . . .
I had a corner on the market . . .there were only 2 programs in perpetrator treatment . . . the men in my group - purpose of that group - to teach skills and maybe help them define issues enable them to be more effcti e parents and partners in their relationships . . .at the time i didn't have much counseling experience . . . i based it on what I thought a healthy family looked like . . .
all other people were doing work 6-12 weeks . . . . consistent all of women is that men they were involved with grew up in abusive families . . . .trauma issues they were dealing with.
just men in the group - in State of Calif. you have to have same sex groups . .
received masters in 1980 . . .wrote a thesis . . . . have it approved and sit for orals . . . a group questions you on your thesis . . . . they approve your thesis . . . I don't believe mine was published parts of it might have been . . . I didn't pursue publishing
i am doing all the training and community ed for the group - work with local probation officers for DV in LA county . . . training for Mental health . . . in 1979 only people who wanted training were church groups - united Methodist were first to request . . . . soroptomists, mental health . . . conferences were about 3 people in the workshop . . . it wasn't well known . .. very few shelters open in the united states .. . . 3 groups . . .
one program in Washington State - Vetrans Hospital - Ann Gambly did - programs for women and men . . . how did you feel working with women & men?
I guess I felt hesitant @ first - quickly saw they were in pain - some wanted change - some didn't wanted to just get partner back . . . really seemed to want to change - I was excited i thought that was terrific . . .worked with a male co-facilitator - interaction between man a nd woman would be role modeling worked with him for 28 years until he retired . .
any men ever frighten you when you began working with them?
occasionally I have been frightened 3 or 4 times in my career - if it were too much I would not keep doing it . . . ..
one was a gang banger who murdered people
counseled couple thousand . . . two groups a week for 34 years . . . . usually 8-10 people in group no fewer than 3 or 4 . . .
first men's group - what kind of therapy do you do now?
very broad based . . . couples, anger management , battered women, battered men , adolescents, parents with parenting issues - individuals, couples , I haven't worked with large families but I worked with grandma and granddaughter now - worked 2 shelter from 79-84. . . .
1984 the funding collapsed in shelter . . . . . .
start own practice?
yes in 1984 - psychotherapy - I continued . . .. .
volunteer workwith private practice?
yes I continued to do that - they paid me to do training . . . . . when I trained the LEO to work wth people who were arrested for dv . . . .
training for volunteer work . . . I continue to do that . . . churches . . . church talks about DV in their congregations - most of volunteer work - I am on alumni board with calstate - i have reviewed grants . . . .meet with younger people and do some mentoring . .
editorial board of peer reviewed journal - journal of child custody . . . . i consult wit people on child custody issues - when expert witnesses . . . . .work with father's who are going thru dv issues, perpetrators . . . and
training @ churches a lot of times to explain why battered women stay - gender issues of DV . . .sometimesthey want training on anger mgmt. - peer train on anger mgmt. . .
depends on group and what they want
teen dating violence - in the high schools - around Long beach and in California as a volunteer . . . talking to kids about teen dating violence - resources they might have
in addition do speaking engagements - keynote addresses - for therapy groups, marriage and family therapists . . . . Fatherhood conference - parenting curriculum . .. ..
Fatherhood Conference encourage Fathers to be best Father's they can be .. . . gang members and others who were not great and have come to that..
asked to speak outside of USA , .Japan, Isreal, New Zealand, Ireland, Katmandu - Nepal, . . didn't catch all of them
set up DV organization- develop battered women shelters address whole family . . . many countries are just developing these - Isreal is very advanced on these matters . . . .done Dept of State . . .. . asked to go to Africa and SriLanka.. . US Govt is asking her to speak to the other countries . . . during George Bush and Barack Obama presidency.
furtherwork with the Probation officers? . . . haven't done training with them . . . . speaking engagement for female probation officers -specialized group . . . .help to create programs for County Probation programs . . . in 1980 in Calif. we created a diversion law - people diverted from system and sent to counseling . . . devlop the training for officers to deal with this issue
awards? . . . received number of awards .. . . very fortunate - from shelter I worked . . . .lifetime achievement, proclamation from County and STate . . . . I live in California since 1967 . . . . moved toArizona when I was 10 . . . . i went to sunny slope high school - my business is in California.
helping to develop different probation trainings in California . . . published . . . I have a book . . . why battered women stay . . . artilces for journal of child custody . . . chapter in a book called domestic violent offenders called a view from the trenches - from 2002 . . . .what we currently know and what we know - success measurements and what we want to have happen in those programs. . .
why battered women stay . . . in 1993 - then second ed in 2000, and now a 3rd edition - don't believe a 4th edition will happen
co-author is a researcher - I was not . . . read articles and write them in a way to understand - made case studies . . . . used as a text book - number of universities back east . .. speaking in Hawaii . . .. some one from Sri Lanka said they used it there.
we have atty's who use it in their cases
forensic work in 1984 . . . . began . . .explain why a battered women would kill or stay . .. .
dv homicide trial - battered women's syndrome was not tested or considered . . . . i didn't know this was a job i thought it was a volunteer position - i was surprised . . ..
how many cases you have worked on? . . . . 60 cases . . . 2 or 3 cases a year for consulting . .