Talk4Change: The Future Of Working With People Using Family Violence
Tracks
Room 4: In-Person Only
| Tuesday, November 25, 2025 |
| 11:25 AM - 11:45 AM |
Overview
Tony Johannsen, Family Life
Details
1. A deeper understanding of the adverse childhood experiences and adult attachment styles of people who use family violence.
2. An enhanced appreciation of the role of the therapeutic alliance with people who use family violence.
3. The benefits and challenges of engaging in psychotherapy with people who use family violence.
Speaker
Mr Tony Johannsen
Director Clinical Quality, Evidence And Practice
Family Life
Talk4Change: the future of working with people using family violence
Presentation Overview
There is a growing acceptance of the need for a more trauma-capable response for people using family violence. Traditionally this work has centered on ‘accountability’, with the widely held belief that any acknowledgment of the trauma and intersecting complexities of a person using violence (PUV) was an undesirable deviation from ‘holding him to account’. As our understanding of the relationships between trauma, substance misuse, mental health, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and family violence deepens, we are confronted with the reality that a multivariate phenomenon like family violence requires a multidimensional response.
Family Life has responded to the growing acceptance that traditional MBCPs alone are not going to solve the ‘wicked problem’ of family violence by piloting an innovative intervention called Talk4Change (T4C). They have partnered with Swinburne University for a conceptual design study, which is producing some valuable insights.
T4C employs a multivariate analysis of the use of Family Violence that extends on the ‘accountability model’ by addressing a multitude of complexities such as trauma, attachment, ACEs, empathy, psychological rigidity, as well as the traditional MBCP programmatic elements like the gendered nature of Family Violence and the neurophysiological impacts of Family Violence on Children.
What makes T4C unique is not just the additional content, but the program structure; T4C incorporates an equal dosage of both group and individual psychotherapeutic sessions. These individual sessions strengthen the practitioner-client therapeutic alliance far beyond what has been possible through standalone MBCPs. This deeper therapeutic relationship facilitates more robust, authentic challenging, allowing for a deeper investigation into the trauma, attachment styles, gendered worldviews and psychological rigidity that underpins entitlement and the use of violence.
This presentation showcases the insights and experiences of clients and practitioners across the first 12 months of this pilot, as well as the initial findings from Swinburne’s conceptual design study.
Family Life has responded to the growing acceptance that traditional MBCPs alone are not going to solve the ‘wicked problem’ of family violence by piloting an innovative intervention called Talk4Change (T4C). They have partnered with Swinburne University for a conceptual design study, which is producing some valuable insights.
T4C employs a multivariate analysis of the use of Family Violence that extends on the ‘accountability model’ by addressing a multitude of complexities such as trauma, attachment, ACEs, empathy, psychological rigidity, as well as the traditional MBCP programmatic elements like the gendered nature of Family Violence and the neurophysiological impacts of Family Violence on Children.
What makes T4C unique is not just the additional content, but the program structure; T4C incorporates an equal dosage of both group and individual psychotherapeutic sessions. These individual sessions strengthen the practitioner-client therapeutic alliance far beyond what has been possible through standalone MBCPs. This deeper therapeutic relationship facilitates more robust, authentic challenging, allowing for a deeper investigation into the trauma, attachment styles, gendered worldviews and psychological rigidity that underpins entitlement and the use of violence.
This presentation showcases the insights and experiences of clients and practitioners across the first 12 months of this pilot, as well as the initial findings from Swinburne’s conceptual design study.
Biography
A psychotherapist, executive manager and clinical supervisor, Tony has 10 year’s experience delivering trauma-capable clinical psychotherapy, group interventions, leadership and trainings across the non-profit and private sectors.
Tony has a passion for innovation and the transferable utility of multidisciplinary practice when working with people using family violence.
