IVAT is a comprehensive resource and training center addressing all aspects of violence, abuse and trauma across the lifespan. We strive to bridge the gaps between policy, practice and research to help improve current system-response by cultivating multidiscipline prevention and intervention strategies that promote trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and gender-responsive prevention and interventions. For the past 25-years we have provided professionals and students access to our Summits and trainings to learn from leading experts in prevention, identification, investigation, and interventions for exploitation, abuse, and trauma.

We provide a list of opportunities for addressing interpersonal violence, child abuse, human trafficking, system-response and community engagement, professional burnout, and conflict resolution / de-escalation trainings. Fees for trainings vary depending on duration, and eligibility for receiving continuing education credits.

Mary Jo Barrett, MSW, is the Founder of Collaborative Change Consultation. Ms. Barrett has been working in the field of family violence since 1974 beginning with Parents Anonymous. She created the Collaborative Change Model, a contextual model of therapy used to transform the lives of those impacted by abuse and/or traumatic events. Her training and published works focus on the teaching of the Collaborative Change Model; Family Therapy and Interpersonal Violence; Adult Survivors of Abuse and Trauma; Complex Developmental Trauma and Compassion Fatigue. Ms. Barrett founded the Family Dialogue Project, a mediation program which strives to redefine relationships within families that have been impacted by allegations of abuse or differences that appear irreconcilable.

MEGA♪ Specialized Risk Assessment Virtual Training

Trainer: LC Miccio-Fonseca, PhD

Date: Friday, December 6, 2024

About: MEGA♪ Risk Assessment Certification is a tool for assessing coarse sexual improprieties, and/or sexually abusive behaviors in youth ages 4-19 years. MEGA♪ is applicable for adjudicated and adjudicated males and females, including youth with low intellectual functioning. Tested on over 3901 youth internationally (largest validation studies in its field) - MEGA♪ is state of the art and unique. It provides a comprehensive individualized risk assessment report according to age and gender. MEGA♪ can follow changes in the youth’s risk level over time (is an outcome measure). The one-day specialized training includes the dynamics of risk assessment in general, administering scoring (data is confidential and secured), and interpreting the MEGA♪ findings.

Collaborative Change Model: A Blueprint for Healing Complex Developmental Trauma

Trainer: Mary Jo Barrett, MSW

Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024

About: This interactive workshop presents a model for trauma treatment, highlighting the role of relationships in healing. The Collaborative Change Model (CCM) uses natural change cycles to guide therapy with individuals, couples, and families. Participants will learn to use CCM for effective, collaborative change in various therapeutic settings.

Understanding and Supporting Neurodivergent Clients

Trainer: Zahava “Zee” Zaidoff

Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2025

About: The world is created for those with neurotypical brains. Neurodivergent individuals struggle to make sense of, and fit into this world. Almost all of the treatment that exists for neurodivergent people is about teaching them how to mask their behaviors to make others more comfortable and to “fit better” into the world around them. That is unfair. That is harmful. That is painful. That is the opposite of healing. When providers can understand even the basics of what it means to be neurodivergent, positive patient outcomes can increase dramatically. We owe it to those we serve to help them navigate their neurotype, so they too can be successful; on their own terms.

Treating Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse: How Are We Helping Our Clients Heal?

Trainer: Mary Jo Barrett, MSW

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025

About: Have we helped to keep intrafamilial sexual abuse a secret by lumping it under the name of Trauma? Have we assisted in sweeping this form of sexual abuse under the rug like so many of our clients and their family members do? This will workshop will bring the fact that a vast number of our trauma clients are victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse and their treatment must be enlightened about the nuances of this complex developmental trauma. In this workshop, we will be exploring interventions for the crisis of discovery and disclosure, understanding of how being related to a perpetrator impacts the therapeutic relationship, and understanding the dynamics of sibling sexual abuse. Specific treatment interventions of family therapy when the sexual abuse is current between family members and family of origin work when our clients are adults will be discussed.

Emotional Survival and Wellness: Trauma, Post-Traumatic Growth, and the Process of Healing

Post Certified Course #43173

Presented by Capt. Dan Willis (ret.)

Emotional Survival and Wellness: Trauma, Post-Traumatic Growth, and the Process of Healing focuses on the daily work traumas of the profession and how they can cause suicide, post-traumatic stress, unprofessional service, excessive force issues, and a host of emotional, mental, and physical health problems. The curriculum features specific evidence-based wellness strategies to promote post-traumatic growth and effective ways to enhance resiliency and heal from trauma.

Contact Dan Willis at www.FirstResponderWellness.com or dwillis1121@yahoo.com

IVAT Specialty Certification for Family Court Professionals 

Litigation and Evaluation involving Abuse Allegations in Family Court Cases (LEFCC) is a grant subsidized innovated specialized training for family court lawyers, mental health professionals, and child custody evaluators. The 30-hour IVAT certification program consists of 20 hours of in-person training and 10 hours of online webinars. Requires some previous experience and/or training in areas of domestic violence and/or child maltreatment in the last five years. Qualified applicants may apply for the 30-hour training program which consists of 20 hours in-person training and 10 hours of online training.  Faculty consultations and technical assistance are available for those in the certification program. Training sponsored by the Professional Consortium on Abuse Allegations in Family Court. 

For questions regarding the Specialty Certification: Nanette Burton | Nanetteb@ivatcenters.org
For questions regarding the in-person training: LEFCC@ivatcenters.org

Training: Novel Approaches to Overcoming Reproductive Trauma

Presented by Abigail Burd, LCSW, PMH-C

Description: Reproductive mental health expert, Abigail (Abby) Burd, LCSW, PMH-C,, shares best-practices as well as novel and creative approaches to helping overcome perinatal trauma. Learn via real life case studies and leave empowered to give healing and hope.

Training: Treatment of Male & Female Domestic Violence Offenders: Issues, Controversies, Approaches, and Practical Techniques

Presented by Robert Geffner, PhD, ABPP, ABN

Description: This workshop focuses on some of the controversies and current issues in the field of spouse/partner abuse, including approaches and techniques that have been utilized for those accused or confirmed of abusing their partner, typologies of male and female offenders, recent research concerning the effectiveness of intervention, and the types of treatment or other interventions that might be appropriate. This workshop discusses and demonstrates intervention approaches and techniques for both male and female offenders, including an abuse-specific couples approach.

Training: After Abuse: The Case for Individual and Institutional Restorative Justice
Presented by Alissa Ackerman, PhD & Guila Benchimol, PhD

Description: Restorative Justice is a survivor-centered approach to healing that honors the humanity of all parties involved. It offers unique and creative pathways for addressing the needs expressed by those impacted by harm. Sometimes those pathways involve direct interaction with the initial harm doer, while other times it includes those responsible for secondary or institutional harm. This workshop will explore the roots and fundamentals of restorative justice. It will then cover the use of restorative justice in individual and institutional cases.

Training: LGB&T Cultural Humility - Knowing our Place
Presented by Kunane Dreier & Maddalynn Sesepasara

Description: LGB&T Cultural Humility training is designed to increase knowledge and skills to effectively interact with LGB&T people, as well as support and provide affirming care and support.  This training integrates the unique viewpoints of local and Hawaiian culture as related to māhū. Utilizing the unique viewpoints of our Hawaiian and local cultures, we aim to increase humility and capacity for understanding when engaging with our most vulnerable populations. 

Training: Stopping Violence Through Understanding Failure and Rejection
Presented by Janie Christensen, MSW, RSW

Description: This training will delve into the intricate connection between substance use and sex trafficking in Hawai'i. Gain valuable insights into the vulnerabilities that underlie substance abuse and how addiction can be wielded as a tool of exploitation. Explore the current landscape of healing and discover pathways to enhance the recovery journey for survivors in the future.

Training: Intersections of Substance Use and Sex Trafficking
Presented by Ashley Maha’a

Description: This training will delve into the intricate connection between substance use and sex trafficking in Hawai'i. Gain valuable insights into the vulnerabilities that underlie substance abuse and how addiction can be wielded as a tool of exploitation. Explore the current landscape of healing and discover pathways to enhance the recovery journey for survivors in the future.

Training: SAFeR: A Systematic Approach to Addressing IPV in Child Custody and Parenting Time Cases Presented by Tracy Shoberg, JD

Description: This training will introduce legal practitioners to a structured approach to decision-making in domestic violence-related custody cases that centralizes the experience of battered parents and their children.  The training will also acquaint participants with a suite of tools designed to enhance screening, assessment, and informed decision making in domestic violence related child custody matters. 

Training: Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation Allegations: What Do the Data Show? Presented by Joan Meier, JD

Description: This webinar is the the first study to ever assess custody case outcomes across the U.S., the 2019 Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation Allegations study was federally funded by the National Institute of Justice. Findings regarding courts' skepticism of abuse allegations by mothers, the power of alienation crossclaims, and gender bias will be reported.

Training: Unmasking Abuse: Identifying Psychological Defenses That Put Families at Risk
Presented by Robin Lynch, PhD

Description: This webinar is designed for identifying the dynamics that lead to abuse is central to effective domestic violence prevention. Intervention is difficult as abuse is often difficult to discern, including to the victims, and to measure. This presentation introduces the notion of the “narcissistic affect dysregulated” individual who projects their emptiness and anger on others to self-regulate and, in doing so, creates abusive relationships.

Training: Neurobiology of Trauma
Presented by Dr. Robert Geffner, PhD, APN, ABPP

Description: This workshop is designed for a range of professionals who work with survivors of trauma and will cover the different areas of the brain that are affected by traumatic and stressful situations. This workshop will describe how adverse childhood experiences can disrupt neurobiological development that can affect functioning throughout the lifespan.

Training: Collaborative Recovery: Using Experiential & Person-Centered Approaches for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Institutional Betrayal
Presented by Lori R. Daniels, Ph.D., LCSW

Description: This workshop will discuss various integrative, person-centered, and experiential psychotherapy techniques, provide assessment tools, and ways to build rapport while contracting for treatment. Due to the collaborative nature of the counseling work based on a survivor’s level of information for interventions, a person-centered, experiential approach for IBSA recovery may also be useful for clients of diverse backgrounds.

Training: Invisible Epidemic: Strangulation, Traumatic Brain Injury and Domestic Violence, Presented by Rachel Ramirez, MSW, LISW-S, RA

Description: When most people hear "concussion" they think about sports or the NFL. But what about brain injuries caused by domestic violence? Come to learn about the invisible epidemic of brain injury caused by violence--an emerging issue featured recently on NPR's OnPoint and in the New York Times Magazine.

Training: Understanding Coercive Control and How it Harms Children, Presented by Dr. Emma Katz, PhD
Description: This presentation explores survivor mothers’ and children’s experience of coercive control, both before and after the survivor mother has separated from the abusing father. Showing how coercive control harms children, it will enable delegates to push beyond the view of children as ‘witnesses’ or as ‘exposed’ to abuse. By understanding children’s perspectives, we can see them as co-victims and co-survivors.

Training: Bringing Caregivers and Children Together: An Overview of PC-Care and Its Application in Hawai`i , Presented by Alexandria King, PsyD

Description: Developed in 2016, Parent-Child Care (PC-CARE) is an abbreviated form of Parent Child Interaction Therapy. This 7 session dyadic treatment program was designed for families that are interested in improving caregiver-child relationships and are willing to learn new child behavior management strategies. In this webinar, Dr. Alex King will share why PC-CARE was developed and some of the outcomes from research on this new intervention. Additionally, participants will learn about the core components of the PC-CARE model including experiential practice with the skills of PC-CARE.

Training: The Link Between Grief and Trauma: A Tailored Treatment, Presented by Blythe Landry, MEd, LCSW

Description: When we work in trauma for years on end, the inevitability of vicarious trauma and moral injury are ever present. As seasoned trauma professionals, we often have basic trainings around vicarious/secondary trauma, but we don't often go deeper to discern our own very personal reactions and how this can create a deep grief response that is hard for those who are not in our field to understand. Left unaddressed, this grief reaction can adversely impact our relationships, our professional offerings, and our own mental health. This training will be for intermediate to advanced practitioners seeking a more in-depth and interactive approach to both discussing and responding to vicarious trauma and all that it causes in our lives.

Training: It’s Alienation, Clearly - Or Is It? presented by Madelyn Simring Milchman, PhD.

Description: This webinar addresses evidence needed to assess causes of parent rejection in custody cases. It identifies problems that are unique to assessing alienation and differentiating it from child sexual abuse, child maltreatment, and bad parenting. It supports improved evaluations, investigations, direct and cross-examinations, and judicial decisions.

Training: Walking the Delicate Balance: Helping Adult Survivors with their Future Relationships with their Families, presented by Mary Jo Barrett, MSW

Description: Adult Survivors of childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma often struggle with how to have a relationship with family members that contributed to their experience. Therapists want to understand how to clinically manage the adult relationships of their clients. There is no one solution. This workshop will provide clinicians with some therapeutic concepts and interventions to help their clients navigate difficult family relationships.