Two of Act for Kids’ Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Practitioners are bursting with first-hand knowledge and Grade A insight after attending the internationally renowned 1st Asia Pacific Safe & Together Model Conference, in Melbourne on the 7th and 8th of February.
Joining David Mandel, the creator of the Safe & Together Model, and over 250 delegates, Melissa Poulier and Karen Cate spent two jam-packed days learning the globally respected approach for working with families impacted by domestic violence perpetrators and their behaviour.
Upon their return to Brisbane, Melissa said they were eager to share their learnings with the team, and implement them into their training to better support vulnerable families across Australia.
“This year, I’ll be continuing to support the Brisbane North IFS team to embed practice in identifying perpetrator patterns and survivor strengths, particularly in the context of violence, using the Safe and Together Principles and Critical Components.
“I love the assessment of Multiple Pathways to Harm and am keen to see our practitioners become more comfortable using this framework as a way to keep children the focus and to draw a line between the behaviours of the perpetrator and the impact on child and family functioning,” Melissa said.
Karen felt the conference really highlighted that many men have little to no parental training or preparation.
“For example, we need to be talking to men about what it means to them to be a father, about what they enjoy about fatherhood, what they don’t enjoy, and what they are willing to do to make a difference in their children’s lives. A great reminder to include men in a holistic family plan, if possible and safe to do so, as it is likely that children will spend considerable time with them,” Karen said.