Intimate Partner Abuse Education Program

This program is for people who have abused their intimate partner. It is a 40-session program, and participants may enroll at any time.

Each participant engages in a group of 6-10 members. Our goals for participants are:

  • Stopping abuse of all current and former partners

  • Expanding definitions of abuse

  • Describing abuse in detail

  • Recognizing and describing the effects of abuse on partners and children

  • Learning to communicate respectfully

  • Developing empathy and understanding for partners

  • Participating in group discussion and providing feedback to other group members

If you are interested in enrolling, please click the button below.

Weekly | 2 hours | $25-75 per session*

*Emerge bases weekly session fees for IPAEP on the participant’s income. We use a sliding scale of $25-75. For those who are unemployed or disabled, we may be able to offer a lower fee. 

Who is IPAEP for?

What happens in an IPAEP group?

General Group Rules

Emerge is for people who have abused their partner in any way—not only with physical violence. Many people who have come to Emerge report that they have not been physically abusive, but have been quite emotionally, verbally, or psychologically abusive. Despite the fact that these forms of abuse are not physical in nature, we challenge group members to recognize that they are still harmful and in fact can destroy relationships.

In Massachusetts, programs such as Emerge are called Intimate Partner Abuse Education Programs (IPAEP), but elsewhere programs might be called “Batterer Intervention,” “Family Violence Prevention,” or similar names.

Approximately 30% of participants at Emerge are self-referred, although we see many people who are referred by the court systems or through child protective services (Department of Children and Families).

During our abuse education groups, we examine the behavior of people who choose to abuse their partners in order to improve their relationships with others.

People coming to Emerge are asked to recognize how they have chosen such behavior as a pattern in their relationships and families and how those choices have harmed others.

The program is broken into a First Stage (8 sessions) and a Second Stage (32 sessions).

The First Stage is organized around eight lessons. Participants give general examples that relate to the lesson. Once during the First Stage, participants share, in detail, an account of their abuse.

The Second Stage is discussion-based. Participants complete a “relationship history,” describing several significant relationships, including their abuse and its effects on their partners and children. Group members are expected to give feedback to others in the Second Stage. Second Stage participants also set specific goals that help guide their behavior once they leave the program.

  • Attend every weekly session

  • Notify Emerge with 24-hours’ notice of any expected absences

  • Arrive on time (no more than 15 minutes after the start of the group)

  • Pay weekly session fee and administrative fee

  • Respect other group members, group leaders

  • Pay attention in group without doing other things (e.g., eating, smoking, watching TV)