Calgary Counselling Centre accepting new clients for new program

Strengthening Families Project:
Couples Treatment for Domestic Violence and Substance Use

Calgary Counselling Centre (CCC), through the Wilson Centre for Domestic Abuse Studies, is now accepting clients for a brand new pilot program to help address the complex relationship between substance use and intimate partner violence. The Strengthening Families Program: Couples Treatment for Domestic Violence and Substance Use is supported by the Alberta Government Safe Communities Innovation Fund.

The Strengthening Families Program provides 12 treatment sessions to married or cohabitating couples who have had at least one incident of intimate partner violence and where at least one partner has a substance use problem. The program is modelled on work initiated by the late Dr. William Fals-Stewart and Dr. Keith Klostermann. It offers treatment to both partners to help start and maintain abstinence for the substance user, while teaching the other partner coping skills to increase safety.

"Working with both violence and substance abuse is a very challenging problem," says Robbie Babins-Wagner, CEO, Calgary Counselling Centre. "There is promising research showing the provision of couples treatment can simultaneously treat both the domestic violence and substance use. We are really optimistic we are going to make a difference."

In June 2010, CCC was honoured to receive $750,000 funding, over three years, from the Alberta Government Safe Communities Innovation Fund to develop and support the Strengthening Families Program. Minister of Justice and Attorney General Alison Redford and Child and Youth Services Minister Yvonne Fritz announced the funding at the 2nd Annual Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Conference.

At the announcement, Alison Redford, Minister of Justice and Attorney General commented: "We need to all work together - partnerships are key to ending domestic violence."

Centre staff have participated in extensive training and the Centre has engaged Dr. Leslie Tutty with Resolve Alberta as the external evaluator for the program.

"The Strengthening Families Program will allow us to gather essential information about dual issues, like substance abuse and domestic violence," says Christine Berry, Director of Family Violence Prevention Programs, Calgary Counselling Centre. "It offers the opportunity to understand how we can better intervene when dealing with dual issues. Social costs like loss of jobs, interruptions at work and police intervention caused by domestic violence and substance abuse will decrease. More importantly, we will have families who are healthy, feeling safe and connected in our community."

The Safe Communities Initiative is a partnership of nine government ministries working closely with police, community groups, municipalities, businesses and social agencies. Their goal is to find meaningful and long-term solutions to address crime in communities, and make communities safer and stronger. With the help of our partners, the Centre is taking all the necessary steps in putting together the program in order to have it launch with the highest levels of success in our community.

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