Community Based Intervention Program (CBIP) – Stephenville
The West Coast office of the John Howard Society of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. initiated the development of the Community Based Intervention Program to mirror services already being offered by the Learning Resources Program in St. John’s. Services are offered to justice involved individuals in the Stephenville, Port aux Basques and Corner Brook regions. The goal of this program is to reduce the risk of recidivism through rehabilitative efforts. Issues covered in programs include those which contribute to criminal behaviour.
Contact Daphne O’Keefe, Manager of Programs
(709) 643-9472
(709) 643-9160
dokeefe@jhsnl.ca
141-147 Main Street,
Suite 8,
Stephenville, NL
A2N 1J5
Programs Offered
A program designed by Lisa M. Najavits and is for people with a history of trauma and/or addiction. Seeking Safety has been successfully used for over 20 years across genders and with people struggling with various barriers. Seeking Safety provides cognitive, behavioral and interpersonal treatment strategies that prioritize safety as the first stage of the recovery process. Seeking Safety helps people manage trauma symptoms, develop healthy coping strategies, prevent self-destructive acts, identify positive and safe people, free oneself from unhealthy relationships, and find new ways to enjoy life. This program is present and future oriented, participants are not asked to participate in exposure therapy or retelling of their trauma or substance use histories; rather they will develop strategies and skills to create a healthy pro-social lifestyle. Offered in Community as well as WCCC.
A gender-based violence program that addresses the needs of individuals and groups who have been abusive in their current relationship. This program is trauma informed and draws on the theories of Social Justice and Narrative Therapy to produce conversations to repair harm. The program recognizes that everyone experiences harm. Safety and Repair is individualized to a person’s values and experiences and therefore is respectfully adapted to any gender, race, ethnicity, or spirituality. Participants move through the program at their own pace. Participants are required to complete all nine topics of Phase 1 and 2 to receive a successful completion of the program, regardless of their risk assessment level.
Referrals for the Safety and Repair program are accepted through:
- Department of Justice – Some participants serving a Probation Order, Conditional Sentence Order or Temporary Absence Permit are referred to the program as a condition to their order.
- Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Court – Some participants are referred by a special court dealing with family violence offenses. Participants must agree to plead guilty but sentencing is delayed until the participant completes IPV – Safety and Repair.
The program is offered to participants who have difficulty responding to intense emotions related to anger. The program utilizes multiple therapeutic modalities including but not limited to Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, Reality Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to support participants with emotional awareness, skill acquisition and application for effectively expressing intense emotions. Over a period of 10 sessions, participants are guided through a trauma informed lens to understand their own emotional responses and are provided opportunities to acquire new skills and put them into practice. Offered in Community as well as WCCC.
A 10-session program offered once a week for 10 weeks in a group setting. Dads focuses on helping fathers understand the realistic expectations for their children’s different developmental stages and helps navigate discipline and parenting approaches for children who have experienced trauma. This program teaches skills of positive communication and co-parenting, assists fathers in processing their own guilt and shame, and teaches fathers about how to avoid common pitfalls in parenting and discipline.
A program for participants who present a risk to reoffend sexually as assessed using the STABLE 2007 & ACUTE 2007, Static 99 and LS-CMI. The program utilizes multiple theories and approaches including, strength-based approach, good lives model, dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The program is divided using a good lives model to guide the participants in the adoption of healthy and prosocial lifestyles. The aim of this program is to reduce recidivism by building awareness around personal relationships, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The participant will learn how to take individual accountability for their thoughts, feelings, and actions, and how to use healthy prosocial coping skills.
A continuous intake program often offered in conjunction with Journey to Transformation – Anger Solutions, and designed to target dynamic risk factors such as anti-social attitudes and values, pro-criminal associations, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour patterns.
A psycho-educational workshop targeting impaired drivers and delivered on an individual basis or in a group setting.
While not a program in itself, supplements the group therapy by requiring high-risk participants to attend up to six additional sessions with a program facilitator either during, or following, completion of a specific program. The objective of the maintenance phase, in essence a relapse prevention strategy, is to reinforce the knowledge, skills and positive changes in attitudes and behaviours which participants have achieved through the group therapy process.
Program Admission
- Referral from either an adult probation officer or a classification officer.
- Intake interview conducted by a program facilitator at CBIP to gain a better understanding of the participant’s background and needs; in the case of sex offenders, a comprehensive assessment tool called STABLE is administered.
- Program assignment is determined as well as the program intensity level.
- In most cases, for various reasons, it is more appropriate to provide individual counselling rather than group therapy.
- Upon completion of the group therapy or individual counselling, a report is prepared by the program facilitator and forwarded to the referring agency; this report will provide a summary of the participant’s progress in the program, the areas which still need to be addressed as well as recommendations regarding other programs which may be considered.
- Participants who fail to participate appropriately may be dismissed from the program.
Benefits to the Participant
- It is an opportunity to discuss personal problems with highly qualified facilitators in a private and confidential setting.
- Participants will also be able to share similar experiences with others in a positive, respectful group learning process (when group sessions are available)
- It is an opportunity to learn new ways of thinking and acting by being exposed to new ideas, effective coping skills, problem-solving skills and other techniques in areas such as anger management, family violence and sexual offending.
- Participants will gain new insights, not only about themselves, but also about the impact that their behaviour has had on others.
- CBIP will assist in making referrals to other support services such as employment preparation, addictions services, housing, educational upgrading, etc.