Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People, Facilitator's Guide

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Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, LCSW, is an internationally recognized clinician, consultant, lecturer, author, and pioneer in addiction, trauma, and recovery. For more than 35 years, she has created gender-responsive and trauma-informed programs and services. She has also consulted for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the California Department of Corrections, and many other institutions nationally and internationally. She has published extensively, including 10 gender- and trauma-focused interventions, and co-authored a three-year research project, Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for Women Offenders, for the National Institute of Corrections. Her latest book is Hidden Healers: The Unexpected Ways Women in Prison Help Each Other Survive.

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A gender-responsive, trauma-informed treatment program for mental health, addiction, and domestic violence professionals working within the criminal justice system

Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People is the revised and expanded version of the evidence-based Beyond Violence (2013). The expansion includes additional sessions focusing on suicide prevention, parenting, relationships in prison, and gender diversity. This treatment program is specifically developed for those who have committed aggressive or violent crimes and are in prisons, jails, and community correctional settings.

The curriculum applies the Social-Ecological Model to understand violent impulses and their management. This same conceptual model is used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by researchers affiliated with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). This four-level violence prevention model considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. It addresses key issues that put women at risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence.

The Beyond Violence+ program consists of 27 group sessions. Facilitators receive the background information and content necessary to lead practical and effective sessions, and the Participant Workbook allows women to process, record, and refer back to their therapeutic group experiences. By the end of the program, participants will have new skills in communication, conflict resolution, de-escalation, decision-making, and self-soothing. They also will have a newfound understanding of themselves, their backgrounds, and the paths forward in their lives.