Connect & Learn November 2022

“As an AOD clinician, what do I need to consider about working with clients who may be using family violence?” presented by Cindy McKelvie, Stephen Herd, Meg Bagnall & Rachel Daniel.

Since the introduction of MARAM in 2018, the AOD sector has expanded their responsibilities to identify, assess, and respond to family violence risk within operations and service delivery. To date, sector training and practice development has been directed towards identifying and responding to victim survivors of family violence, but expectations are shifting following the release of the adult person using violence practice guidelines. Formal MARAM training for working with adult people who use family violence are currently under development.

This webinar draws on MARAM practice guidance, relevant literature, and the knowledge, practice and experience of presenters to describe and position the role of AOD practice in working with adult people who use violence.

The webinar explores the clinical interaction with adult people who use violence, what accountability and visibility looks like as an obligation and in practice, and the benefits of collaboration to manage risk and to increase safety for victim survivors. The webinar highlights the importance of centering victim survivors in practice, while promoting curiosity as a means for a clinician to explore risk. As with working with victim survivors, working with adult people who use family violence requires interaction with the broader service system. The webinar also stresses the importance of self-care through formal and informal means.

This work has been prepared as a collaboration of AOD Specialist Family Violence Advisors from the Specialist Family Violence Advisor Capability Building Program.

Presenters:

Cindy McKelvie, The Salvation Army, SFVA (Barwon)

Stephen Herd, Turning Point, SFVA (Inner East)

Meg Bagnall, Bendigo Community Health, SFVA (Lodden)

Rachel Daniel, Ballarat Community Health, SFVA (Ballarat)