A Randomized Clinical Study of a Mind-Body Approach to Domestic Violence Offender Treatment

Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence

Mind Body Bridging, Domestic Violence Offender Treatment, Batterer Treatment

The focus of the present study is to examine the relative efficacy of a mind-body method, know as Mind-Body Bridging, of treating DV offenders as compared to a treatment as usual (TAU) approach. The study will be conducted on-site at ACES, a non-profit agency that provides licensed domestic violence offender and substance abuse treatment services in the Salt Lake City area.

Mind-Body Bridging Program (MBBP) was developed by Stanley Block, M.D. over the last decade drawing from his more than 30 years of experience in clinical psychiatry and awareness training. In his book Come To Your Senses: Demystifying the Mind-Body Connection (Block & Block, 2005, 2007), he demonstrates how people can regulate their emotions through bridging, a technique that brings one back to the present moment to experience and recognize thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. Bridging aims to reduce the impact of negative thought patterns that facilitate stress in the body. Bridging allows individuals to reconnect with a mind-body state that inherently relaxes and restores healthy natural functioning. MBBP is built on awareness practices that enable individuals to investigate their mental states at deeper levels for the purpose of calming their minds and relaxing their bodies. This can lead to reductions in activation of the stress system (stress is consistently implicated in the progression of many mental and physical diseases), with the prospect of potentially alleviating many detrimental health conditions. According to Block & Block (2005, 2007), the critical source of ill-being in humans is rooted in the Identity System (IS), which is composed of self-centered thoughts, beliefs and emotions. The IS emphasizes separation, incompleteness, and self-interest, creating an identity that lacks authenticity. In essence, the IS interferes with one's natural functioning in everyday life by effectively cutting one off from one's natural self-healing abilities, and this typically results in constricting and closing down the present-moment awareness that is provided by one's senses. MBBP teaches how using bridging techniques, one can identify and rest the IS with its associated negativity and bodily tension, thereby creating more opportunities for improving quality of life and for functioning more naturally.

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