ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews research with respect to couple’s interventions for Intimate partner violence (IPV), the impact of substances on IPV and relatively new interventions that address both issues using a couple’s therapy format. It describes a pilot program, Strengthening Families, offered by the Calgary Counselling Centre in Calgary, Canada that addresses both situational IPV and substance abuse by one or both partners. While some consider couples therapy to be an appropriate method for addressing spousal violence, this has been debated for decades. Nevertheless, couples therapy specific to IPV has been offered with the caveat that the violence be minor, as in the case of situational violence, and that the power imbalances become a central focus of the intervention. The Strengthening Families pilot program offers a unique approach to addressing the needs of couples in which one or both was perpetrating intimate partner abuse and using substances.
