Responding to Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use

Working together: Supporting service users who are navigating recovery from both intimate partner violence and substance use concerns. The issues of intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use (SU) are often intertwined, affecting both lived experiences and service responses in both fields. This event will provide an opportunity to reflect on the complex relationships between IPV and SU, as well as practical strategies that service providers can use to reduce stigma, open supportive conversations, and apply service-user-centered practices that uphold safety, and empowerment. We will explore substance use stigma as it appears within systems, services, and in ourselves, and discuss organizational strategies to develop collaborative pathways of service.

Learning Objectives
. Increase understanding of the importance of offering approaches that simultaneously address IPV and SU, that are rooted in trauma- and violence-informed (TVI) care.
. Recognize and consider how to reduce stigma connected with SU and the co-occurrence of SU and IPV
. Engage with an expanded concept of recovery and consider the implications for practice and policy in the substance use and anti-violence services
. Practice skills to open supportive conversations, utilize motivational interviewing principles, and apply trauma- and violence-informed practices
. Identify collaborative and integrated approaches that have been designed in Canada and internationally, to support service users who are navigating recovery from both intimate partner violence and substance use concerns