Working with Intimate Partner Violence: Understanding and Responding

In this course, therapist, author, and family violence practitioner Carmel O'Brien, with more than 30 years' experience supporting child and adult survivors, introduces a clinically grounded framework for understanding intimate partner violence as a pattern of coercive control rather than isolated incidents. The course explores defining features of abuse, warning signs, impacts on survivors and children, key principles of risk assessment, and practical guidance for responding ethically, safely, and effectively in therapeutic practice.