Our Organization
Who We Are
Founder, Executive Director: Terry Parker, MA, LPC
Co-Founder, Director: Murlene Rucker
Our mission is the safety of Victims/Survivors, who are usually women and children; however, an increasing number of men are coming forward as Victims/Survivors of abuse and violence. We treat all Victims/Survivors with dignity and respect, regardless of their gender. While we honor the abuse or prior trauma that Victims/Survivors have endured, we simultaneously teach and empower them with coping skills, nonviolent conflict management techniques, and identification of red flags in relationships. We refer clients to mental health and/or addiction help when needed to provide concurrent treatment. If inpatient treatment is needed, we put clients in a medical hold status, and they resume group attendance after treatment.
With DCFS clients, our goal is to promote permanency by maintaining, strengthening, and safeguarding the functioning of families to
- prevent substitute care placement,
- promote family reunification,
- stabilize foster care placements,
- facilitate youth development, and
- ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of children.
Second Chances agrees to support achievement of the outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being for children and their parents and other family members served under this DCFS contract. We also agree to ensure the safety and well-being of all clients while receiving services under this contract. The physical site shall be safe, adequately maintained, and free from damage. Staffing levels shall assure the adequate supervision necessary to provide therapeutic treatment to clients. A safe and caring environment is critical for supporting therapeutic treatment, and Second Chances shall facilitate and maintain this environment so that all treatment services provided to clients are supported.
Who We Serve
Most of our clients are court-mandated to attend our groups because they
- have been charged with domestic battery,
- have violated an Order of Protection, or
- are involved with Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
How We Do It
First, our staff members establish a therapeutic alliance with clients by using a combination appropriate confrontation, education, encouragement, and trauma-informed cognitive-behavioral therapy. Without an alliance, no amount of education or therapy will be helpful to clients.
Second, we teach clients our definition of domestic violence. At the core of domestic violence is the word “fear.” Anything a person does or says to an intimate partner or family member that causes fear IS domestic violence. The majority of our clients use their anger very well to control other persons. Our clients want someone to START doing something, STOP doing something, or do something his/her way. There are major differences between anger management and domestic violence abuser counseling.
The concepts and topics we teach include but are not limited to: empathy, nonviolent conflict management, the Power & Control Wheel, the Equality Wheel, the Respect Wheel, the Cycle of Violence, basic communication skills, active listening, healthy limits and boundaries, the effects of domestic violence on children, creating new neuropathways in the brain, the stages of change, the ACES and Resiliency Quizzes, the Continuum of Abuse, personal warning signs, and the qualities of an equal, respectful, and honest relationship.