Substance Abuse Treatment and Domestic Violence - Batterers
A 3 hour course that provides substance abuse counselors with an overview of domestic violence. This information will help counselors understand the particular needs and behaviors of batterers and survivors. It will also provide direction and guidance in the preparation of treatment plans for those involved in care. The focus of this course is on the batterer.

Goals/Objectives

This course will use the knowledge and information developed for the Treatment Improvement Protocol on Domestic Violence to help treatment professionals create an integrated knowledge base about substance abuse and domestic violence and to outline a system of integrated care for this problem. Because the scope of this problem impacts more than one individual, this course attempts to focus its attention on the individual most commonly seen in drug and alcohol treatment programming today - the batterer.

By participating in this Distance Learning Course the trainee will:

  1. understand the particular needs and behaviors of batterers and to define the problem of domestic violence;
  2. establish the connections between substance abuse and domestic violence.
  3. explore the risk factors associated with domestic violence and the use of alcohol and other drugs;
  4. examine and become familiar with screening instruments and assessment techniques for identifying domestic violence;
  5. obtain a clearer clinical picture of batterers through identification of the signs, symptoms, and group typologies;
  6. identify legal issues and reporting requirements that exist when working with domestic violence;
  7. create a forum to discuss practical application and special issues related to relapse and the prevention of relapse through the use of internet technologies.

Your Course Instructor:
Vic Shaw
M.Th.
Co-Founder, DLCAS
Trainer/Instructor

Vic Shaw is a graduate of Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology with a M.Th. and specialization in pastoral counseling. He has been active in the addiction field since 1970. During the past twenty-seven years he has worked as an Educational Specialist for the Dallas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, as Director of Alcohol Education for the Dallas County Community College District, as an addiction counselor for The Texas Rehabilitation Commission, and as founding director of a thirty (30) bed inpatient addictions treatment center at Hurst-Euless-Bedford Hospital.

Vic was instrumental in the early formation of the Texas Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (TAADAC) and led efforts to implement licensure standards in Texas. He has been a certified addiction counselor in Texas as well as a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. He is former chairman of the Education Committee for TAADAC and former chairman of the Texas Task Force for Addictions Manpower Development. Vic also served on the Board of Directors for the Dallas and Tarrant County Councils on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Since 1983 he has devoted most of his time and energies to developing a model addictions counselor's training program that has been implemented throughout Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Southern California. Vic is one of the founders of, and currently serves as Director of Marketing for the Distance Learning Center.