Event Description:  For many men who use intimate partner violence, fatherhood is one of the strongest motivations for seeking help and changing abusive behavior. Yet Domestic Violence Intervention Programs (DVIP) have not always fully integrated parenting and fatherhood into intervention in ways that enhance accountability while maintaining survivor and child safety. This interactive, full-day workshop explores how fatherhood can serve as a powerful pathway to accountability and lasting behavior change without minimizing abuse or shifting responsibility onto survivors.

Participants will examine the impact of domestic violence on children, parenting, and the father-child relationship, and learn how abusive behaviors undermine children's safety, well-being, and healthy development. Drawing on current research and promising practices, the workshop will introduce practical strategies for incorporating fatherhood throughout DVIP’s curricula, facilitating conversations about parenting and repair, and engaging fathers in ways that strengthen accountability while supporting safer relationships with their children. Throughout the day, participants will practice applying survivor-centered, child-focused, and approaches responsive to their local communities that reinforce behavior change and promote healthier families.

Presenter: Juan Carlos Areán, Ph.D.
Dr. Areán is an internationally recognized activist, public speaker, and published author. Since 1991, he has worked to engage men to become better fathers, intimate partners, and allies to end domestic violence and sexual assault. He currently serves as Program Director in the Children and Youth Team at Futures Without Violence.

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