Transforming into Men Who Matter: Increasing Empathy in Domestic Abuse Treatment

Men referred to domestic abuse treatment are typically involuntary clients, ranging from being legally mandated to being under significant pressure from others to attend. Such treatment programs have mixed results in achieving change in abusive behaviours. Most programs emphasise taking responsibility for abusive behaviour by examining the precursor thinking beliefs and values, with less attention paid to learning new interpersonal skills that replace antisocial behaviours with prosocial alternatives. Empathy provides a measurable moderator of moving beyond simply acknowledging responsibility for past abuse into learning and applying prosocial relationship enhancement skills with their treatment cohort, families, and significant others. This paper describes a program that builds empathy skills through a series of program and mentalisation tasks that include routine client feedback using the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS). Evidence of increased retention and statistically significant changes in empathy using the Social Empathy Index are provided from a previous study examining the same program. The practice and research implications for domestic abuse clients and other involuntary populations are discussed

Attrition in the Treatment of Men Who Batter: A Closer Look at Men's Decision-Making Process About Attending or Dropping Out of Treatment

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.Chovanec, Michael George, Ph.D., Ph.D. University of Minnesota, 1995, Marriage & Family Therapist/Adult Day Treatment Coordinator, Scott County Mental Health Center, Adjunct Faculty Member, Augsburg College - "Attrition in the Treatment of Men Who Batter: A Closer Look at Men's Decision-Making Process About Attending or Dropping Out of Treatment"The Ohio State University College of Social Wor

Incorporating DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitors (DNMTis) in the Treatment of Genitourinary Malignancies: A Systematic Review

Inhibition of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) has emerged as a novel treatment strategy in solid tumors. Aberrant hypermethylation in promoters of critical tumor suppressor genes is the basis for the idea that treatment with hypomethylating agents may lead to the restoration of a “normal” epigenome and produce clinically meaningful therapeutic outcomes. The aim of this review article is to summarize the current state of knowledge of DNMT inhibitors in the treatment of genitourinary malignancies. The efficacy of these agents in genitourinary malignancies was reported in a number of studies and suggests a role of induced DNA hypomethylation in overcoming resistance to conventional cytotoxic treatments. The clinical significance of these findings should be further investigated

Partners for Change Outcome Management System: Application to Domestic Abuse Treatment

Michael Chovanec, Associate Professor of Social Work, received a $6,670 Faculty Research & Scholarly Activities Grant to examine the utility and effectiveness of Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) applied to domestic abuse treatment. This research will provide the researcher with supervised clinical experience in using PCOMS in a domestic abuse setting and provide evidence of PCOM\u27s efficacy with this client population. Both are key to gaining external funding and recruiting larger domestic abuse programs to expand implementation

Assessing Utility of Client Feedback Instruments for Application in Domestic Abuse Treatment

Michael Chovanec, Associate Professor of Social Work, received a $3,710 Faculty Research & Scholarly Activities Grant to interview the limited number of domestic abuse group facilitators across the country who use a collection of client feedback instruments in their work. Through interviews, facilitators will assess the utility of using these instruments in domestic abuse treatment and provide a set of application guidelines