Domestic Violence: Spousal and Partner Abuse

Bring your toughest clinical questions. Olivia answers participant questions throughout the webinar, so you leave with clarity on the situations that actually show up in your caseload rather than generic guidance.

Work through realistic intimate partner violence screening and safety planning scenarios as a group. Hearing how experienced clinicians reason through ambiguity builds the clinical judgment that written materials alone cannot teach.

Complete a full 5 CE hours in one focused, structured session. Your live CE certificate is issued after the webinar, giving you a meaningful block of your renewal requirement in a single afternoon.

Counselors provide the majority of outpatient mental health services in the United States and frequently work with clients who are experiencing or have survived intimate partner violence. This training helps counselors develop competency in sensitive screening, risk assessment, safety planning, and trauma-informed intervention for survivors.

Social workers encounter survivors of domestic violence across diverse practice settings including hospitals, community agencies, schools, and private practice. This ASWB ACE-approved webinar provides social workers with the knowledge and skills needed to assess risk, develop safety plans, and coordinate care with advocates and other support systems.

Family therapists work with couples and families where intimate partner violence may be present, and must know how to screen for abuse, understand when conjoint work is contraindicated, and prioritize survivor safety. This training provides MFTs with strategies for recognizing partner abuse within the relational context and responding safely.

Substance use frequently co-occurs with intimate partner violence, both as a factor in the abuse and as a survivor coping response. This NAADAC-approved webinar helps addiction professionals understand the relationship between substance use and partner abuse, screen for violence, and integrate safety planning into addiction treatment.

Psychologists conducting assessments, providing therapy, or supervising trainees need current knowledge of intimate partner violence dynamics, risk assessment, and intervention. This webinar covers evidence-based screening approaches, safety planning, and ethical considerations relevant to psychological practice.

A foundation for understanding spousal and partner abuse through current statistics, demographic patterns, and core frameworks including the cycle of abuse and the Power and Control Wheel. Explore how coercive control operates and how stigma and shame impact help-seeking behavior, disclosure, and outcomes.

Identify the many forms intimate partner violence can take, including physical, emotional and psychological, sexual, financial, and digital abuse. Recognize the warning signs and clinical presentations that may indicate abuse, and develop skills for noticing red flags while maintaining therapeutic rapport.

Learn trauma-informed strategies for screening clients for intimate partner violence, responding supportively to disclosure, and avoiding responses that inadvertently retraumatize or endanger survivors. Understand why survivors may minimize, recant, or delay disclosure and how to respond in ways that preserve trust and safety.

Move beyond general impressions to structured assessment techniques, including validated tools such as the Danger Assessment developed by Jacquelyn Campbell. Learn to identify the factors most strongly associated with intimate partner homicide, such as firearm access, strangulation history, escalation, and separation.

Develop practical skills for creating collaborative safety plans that survivors can actually use, covering safety while in the relationship, during separation, and after leaving. Learn to connect clients with domestic violence advocates, shelters, legal protections, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Explore the ethical and legal landscape of domestic violence work, including confidentiality, mandated reporting where it applies, documentation, and the contraindications for conjoint therapy when abuse is present. Close with clinician self-care and strategies for preventing burnout and secondary trauma.

1. Register. Reserve your spot for the September 9, 2026 webinar. Individual registration is $100 for all 5 CE hours, or attend at no additional cost with an Unlimited Plus membership.

2. Receive your access link. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with the live webinar link and instructions for joining. A reminder is sent before the event.

3. Attend live. Join on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 3:45 PM EST. Attendance for the full session is required to earn your 5 live CE hours. Participate in the Q&A and case discussion throughout the day.

4. Complete the post-test and earn your CE certificate. Complete the post-test (required for all live webinars) and course evaluation to receive your 5-hour live CE certificate. Your certificate includes all information required by licensing boards.

Step 1: Screen and Establish Safety to Talk. Confirm the client can speak privately and safely before discussing abuse, and screen sensitively without pressuring disclosure or implying judgment.

Step 2: Assess Lethality Indicators. Explore the risk factors most strongly linked to intimate partner homicide, including access to firearms, prior strangulation or choking, escalating frequency or severity, threats to kill, and stalking.

Step 3: Evaluate Recent Escalation and Separation Risk. Recognize that risk often spikes during or after separation, and assess recent changes such as job loss, pregnancy, new relationships, or threats tied to leaving.

Step 4: Develop a Collaborative Safety Plan. Work with the survivor to plan for safety while in the relationship, during separation, and after leaving, including code words, safe places, important documents, and a packed emergency bag.

Step 5: Connect to Resources and Advocacy. Link the survivor with domestic violence advocates, shelters, protective orders, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233), respecting the survivor's decisions and timeline.

Step 6: Document and Follow Up. Document risk, the safety plan, and referrals appropriately, and revisit the plan over time as circumstances and risk levels change.