Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has been a focus in recent years in Sweden. IPV is a huge personal and social problem not only for affected couples and families but also having a tremendous effect creating intense debates among professionals. The dominant narrative in Sweden can very briefly be described as influenced by the Duluth Model. The Johnson Model of Coercive Controlling Violence and Situational Violence is not accepted by many but has proven useful in our work with IPV couples.

This workshop will present the Possibility Assessment Model, inspired by Michael Johnson, a model for combining risk and possibility assessment. Other theories and models for working with Intimate Partner Violence – inspired by Segal, Stith, Hamel, Wade, Gottman and van Lawicks will also be explored. The practical implications and usefulness of these different ideas in couple counselling will be presented including escalation of conflicts, window of tolerance and conflict curve, resistance to violence, and positive and negative social responses.