Mental Health and Domestic Violence: Collaborative Initiatives, Service Models, and Curricula

"In the first section of this report, Concerns of State Domestic Violence Coalitions and Concerns of Mental Health Providers and/or Agencies are described. The information in these sections emerged in the process of gathering information from State Domestic Violence Coalitions, State Mental Health Departments, community collaborations, individual programs, and from practitioners and experts across the country. The report then describes Model Initiatives and Programs that have already begun the work of examining and responding specifically to the mental health needs of battered women and their children. Many of these models are broadly conceived to respond to the mental health needs of trauma survivors in general, a group which includes survivors of domestic violence as well as survivors of other types of trauma, such as rape and childhood sexual abuse. Finally, the report reviews a number of well-respected training curricula that could be utilized or adapted to prepare advocates and mental health/substance abuse providers to respond to the complex needs of battered women and their children who are struggling with trauma-related mental health concerns."