Monika sits with Jonathan Friedman from EHN Canada to answer his 5 burning questions about IPV.
A client’s story doesn’t end with a screening. When you take the right steps to provide help, you become a trusted partner in their recovery journey. You are providing a lifeline, reaffirming that what they are experiencing is not their fault and that they no longer need to suffer in silence.
As a CACCF certified professional, you know that the annual Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Recognition course is more than just a mandatory recertification requirement. It is a vital tool for identifying the subtle indicators of potential violence; an opportunity to intervene with proactive risk assessment and management.
IPV is often misunderstood, and is not always visible; it’s subtle, and deeply systemic. It’s rooted in patterns of coercive control rather than obvious physical abuse. Survivors face complex, often dangerous barriers to leaving, which makes early recognition and informed intervention critical.
This is where training matters.
Standardized, trauma-informed training for frontline professionals—especially in policing, healthcare, and addiction services—is essential to close systemic gaps, challenge harmful misconceptions, and enable safer, earlier support.
“[Assessing] starts with open ended questions- ‘I’ve noticed these things about you, can you tell me more about it?’ And that’s a very non judgmental way of making sure that they’re able to feel safe with you.”
The Chief Coroner’s Office of Ontario has highlighted this education as a critical component for addiction counsellors to prevent violence from escalating. To meet this need, CACCF has developed industry-leading expertise in IPV training, tailoring our curriculum across various professional sectors to ensure the highest standard of recognition and care.
“It feels like an insurmountable task, and it is, which is why those supports, like victim services, are so important because you need somebody to help you along the way to get out of that situation. When first responders understand those perspectives, it makes it easier for the victim to leave those situations, to feel like they can trust the the first responders that are coming in, and also the the judges in the courts, and at the end of the day they can feel like they can get a resolution that reflects the lived experience that they’ve been through.”
For more on how this training is being utilized across the justice system, listen to Monika’s interview with Jonathan Friedman on the Edgewood Health Network’s podcast 5 FAQs, where she discusses IPV training for police, communicators, and judges:
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