PRESENTED BY: Dr David Adams, Co-Director Emerge Boston USA
Dr David Adams, Ed.D. is co-founder and co-director of Emerge, the first counselling program in the USA for men who abuse women. Founded in 1977, Emerge has pioneered effective and culturally relevant abuser education strategies for men as well as those for abusers in same-sex relationships, and is the most widely replicated psycho-education model in the US and many other nations. Currently, 35% of Emerge’s clients are self-referred and another 10% are referred by child welfare agencies. Dr Adams outlines the primary purposes about abuser education programs, highlights strategies for community outreach and client recruitment as well as strategies for client retention, engagement and accountability. The latter includes a brief description of key group intervention techniques used at Emerge that have been adapted to other treatment settings to address partner abuse and promote parenting awareness. These exercises are geared to promote client accountability and engagement, both for the individual client as well as group members and their social peers.