Our Batterer’s Intervention Program at Lakeview Center of Walton County provides outpatient services for the community. The program focuses on accountability, victim safety and education about abusive behaviors. We are part of a statewide certification program that provides treatment to men and women who are:

• Involved with the court system as a condition of probation or a sentence
• Involved with a community agency that is trying to keep the family together such as the Department of Children and Families
• Seeking to enroll voluntarily at the request of their attorneys to mitigate court-ordered sanctions

The philosophy of our program is that education prevents violence. By understanding the complex nature of battering, the thinking behind it, as well as the impact it has on the perpetrator, victim, children and the community, we strive to save relationships and, ultimately, lives. People have the capacity to change.

How it works

At the Batterer’s Intervention Program, male and female clients learn in separate groups what constitutes abuse, common abusive tactics and the effects that abuse has on partners and families. The program also provides education about how to have healthy relationships and avoid violent behaviors.

Our 26-week program term consists of biweekly classes that cover topics such as:

• Range of coercive and abusive behaviors
• Common abusive tactics
• Effects of abuse on partners and families

The program challenges pre-existing beliefs that abusive partners might have, such as:

• Entitlement
• Ownership
• Gender roles

What you learn

Facilitators share information to make clear that abusive behavior is a choice. Substance misuse and mental health issues may co-exist, and those issues can be addressed as well. This is accomplished by asking the client questions such as:

• Why are you targeting a particular person?
• How does violence impact the balance of power in your relationship?
• What do you think you can change through physical harm?
• Why do you think one person is entitled to have power in a relationship?

Then clients learn how to change abusive behaviors:

• Admit the abuse.
• Stop giving excuses and blaming.
• Accept responsibility and recognize that abuse is a choice.
• Develop respectful, kind and supportive behaviors.
• Share power and carry their weight.
• Change their behavior during conflict.
• Accept the consequences of their actions.

For more information, call 850-892-8045.