Empathic workplace leadership is fundamental to effective treatment and supervision, especially when the work can cause trauma in the professionals doing that work. When staff work in high-pressure environments, a leadership approach grounded in empathy can inspire professionals to be their best. However, the results of a recent Safer Society survey on workplace stressors and motivators highlight a critical issue: professionals working to prevent abuse often view management as a greater source of stress than of support.

Presenters Anette Birgersson and Christin Santiago—professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of leadership—developed this training to address this challenge directly. Their work underscores that empathic, trauma-informed leadership is essential not only for supporting professionals but also for enhancing staff retention, building trust and resilience throughout an organization, and delivering consistent, effective services to clients.

Dr. Melissa Bright, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Violence Prevention Research, has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between research and practice through collaboration among practitioners, community stakeholders, and scientists. In this webinar, she discusses her findings on preventing sexual abuse and violence against women in areas such as sports, school-based education, and among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dr. Bright explores how scientific study can clarify complex societal issues and strengthen the impact of prevention efforts. She also reflects on the professional meaning she has found through building partnerships that transform research into real-world strategies for saving lives.

Individuals convicted of sexual offenses who are mandated to treatment often pose clinical, ethical, and motivational challenges, especially when they deny their offenses. Clinicians must balance accountability with empathy, finding ways to foster engagement and promote meaningful change despite denial and resistance.

The Rockwood Psychotherapy and Consulting Services program in Ontario created an evidence-informed approach tailored to this population. In this training, Dr. Liam Marshall explains the theory and practice behind Rockwood’s model, highlighting effective practitioner traits and strategies to overcome engagement barriers while addressing the ethical and clinical complexities of working with individuals who deny offending.

Developing and maintaining healthy relationships is a central aspect of treatment for sexual offending. Relationships shape how individuals see themselves, connect with others, and find meaning and accountability in their lives. Yet for many people who have caused harm, the path toward genuine intimacy, trust, and empathy can be filled with obstacles. Professionals working in this field face unique challenges in helping clients develop their capacity for closeness while addressing fears, misunderstandings, and past traumas that affect connection. This work invites both professionals and clients to rethink what healthy relationships can look like in all their diversity and complexity.

Building on these ideas, we invite you to join us for this series of professional dialogues moderated by Jay Herman, LCSW, and David Prescott, LICSW. These sessions provide a space to discuss and explore the complexities of relationships through historical and structural lenses, including what professionals and clients can learn from both monogamy and non-monogamy.

In this Our Safe Haven, we invite you to join Laurie Guidry and David Prescott for a collegial, café-style gathering focused on the challenges of assessing individuals at risk for violent or abusive behavior. Each session begins with a focused discussion on the complexities of assessment, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation grounded in shared experiences and professional insights. Session 01: Let’s Talk About the Purpose of Assessment: March 5, 2026, from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm ET: Explore how referral questions, legal mandates, and agency expectations shape the focus, scope, and tone of evaluations. How do these factors influence the recommendations we make to treatment programs?

Working every day to prevent violence and abuse is demanding work, made even more complex when we are also parents and caregivers. This work takes on a special significance; the stakes feel higher, and the impact of what we see and hear often follows us home.

This work can change our worldview. At times, it can be traumatizing and lead to compassion fatigue or burnout. On the other hand, working to prevent abuse can keep us better informed, strengthen our boundaries, and make us more effective parents and caregivers. Many of us credit this work with helping us become better people overall. The relationship between abuse prevention and parenting is a two-way street: our relationships with our loved ones can influence our work, just as our professional experiences inevitably affect our lives at home. In this pair of Our Safe Haven sessions, we invite you to join Janelle Crisp, Stacey Ginesin, and David Prescott to explore these themes in a safe and supportive space.

In this Our Safe Haven series, Dan Knoepfler, Seth Wescott, and David Prescott explore the growing challenges faced by professionals working with emerging adult clients whose lives are increasingly centered online. Through guided discussion and participant engagement, we’ll ask questions, share perspectives, and consider practical strategies for moving forward.

The stigma attached to sexual crime is profound and often extends to innocent family members. In this webinar, Dr. Kavanagh explores how these relatives experience intense shame, trauma, and stigma that permeate all areas of their lives. Her research offers practical recommendations for improving support systems for affected families—helping them to cope, rebuild their lives, and potentially play a role in the desistance of the person who offended from future CSAM use. This work also contributes to a deeper understanding of secondary trauma among relatives of individuals who commit sexual crimes.

Working every day to prevent violence and abuse is demanding work, made even more complex when we are also parents and caregivers. This work takes on a special significance; the stakes feel higher, and the impact of what we see and hear often follows us home.

This work can change our worldview. At times, it can be traumatizing and lead to compassion fatigue or burnout. On the other hand, working to prevent abuse can keep us better informed, strengthen our boundaries, and make us more effective parents and caregivers. Many of us credit this work with helping us become better people overall. The relationship between abuse prevention and parenting is a two-way street: our relationships with our loved ones can influence our work, just as our professional experiences inevitably affect our lives at home. In this pair of Our Safe Haven sessions, we invite you to join Janelle Crisp, Stacey Ginesin, and David Prescott to explore these themes in a safe and supportive space.

Child abuse is preventable, and youth-serving organizations are essential allies in that prevention. Every year, these organizations engage tens of millions of children worldwide, creating opportunities to promote safety and wellbeing. In this webinar, Drs. Letourneau and Assini-Meytin, together with Mr. Ó Dochartaigh, discuss the practical applications of their work with Prevention Global and share a simple but vital message: prevention isn’t an option; it’s a necessity and a shared responsibility.

In this Our Safe Haven, we invite you to join Laurie Guidry and David Prescott for a collegial, café-style gathering focused on the challenges of assessing individuals at risk for violent or abusive behavior. Each session begins with a focused discussion on the complexities of assessment, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation grounded in shared experiences and professional insights. Session 02: Let’s Talk What We Ask and How We Listen: March 25, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm ET: Reflect on interview strategies for clinical reviews, including ways to invite openness and respond to denial and minimization. Discuss the difficulties of making space for the person’s story, trauma, culture, and context while still gathering information about risk and protective factors.

Join us for a series of professional dialogues designed to address these pressing issues. Moderated by Seth Wescott and David Prescott, these discussions provide a supportive space for professionals to share insights, develop strategies, and enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of SEM’s impact on youths. Each session will begin with a focused exploration of a specific topic, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation shaped by shared experiences and professional insights.

Join Dr. Hocken—one of the world’s leading experts in Forensic Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)—for an in-depth training on deepening our understanding of risk and assessment. Through the CFT lens, participants will explore how shame, self-criticism, and emotional regulation shape clients’ lives and treatment engagement. This training offers a trauma-informed, compassion-based framework for integrating risk, need, and protective factors, and provides a practical approach to applying compassion-informed risk formulation with Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) tools.

In this Our Safe Haven series, Dan Knoepfler, Seth Wescott, and David Prescott explore the growing challenges faced by professionals working with emerging adult clients whose lives are increasingly centered online. Through guided discussion and participant engagement, we’ll ask questions, share perspectives, and consider practical strategies for moving forward.

In this Our Safe Haven, we invite you to join Laurie Guidry and David Prescott for a collegial, café-style gathering focused on the challenges of assessing individuals at risk for violent or abusive behavior. Each session begins with a focused discussion on the complexities of assessment, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation grounded in shared experiences and professional insights. Session 03: Let’s Talk Writing Risk in Human Terms, April 24, 2026, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET: Discuss the challenges of translating complex assessment data into clear language that communicates risk, uncertainty, and potential for change to courts, agencies, clients, and families without reducing people to their worst actions.

Join us for a series of professional dialogues designed to address these pressing issues. Moderated by Seth Wescott and David Prescott, these discussions provide a supportive space for professionals to share insights, develop strategies, and enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of SEM’s impact on youths. Each session will begin with a focused exploration of a specific topic, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation shaped by shared experiences and professional insights.

Join us for a series of professional dialogues designed to address these pressing issues. Moderated by Seth Wescott and David Prescott, these discussions provide a supportive space for professionals to share insights, develop strategies, and enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of SEM’s impact on youths. Each session will begin with a focused exploration of a specific topic, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation shaped by shared experiences and professional insights.

Join us for a series of professional dialogues designed to address these pressing issues. Moderated by Seth Wescott and David Prescott, these discussions provide a supportive space for professionals to share insights, develop strategies, and enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of SEM’s impact on youths. Each session will begin with a focused exploration of a specific topic, evolving naturally into an engaging, attendee-driven conversation shaped by shared experiences and professional insights.