TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-CAR reiterates that counseling service is a useful tool in helping perpetrators change their violent and abusive behaviors.
DSWD-CAR-managed Regional Haven’s psychologist, Amyva Victorino, stated in an interview that offering counseling to violent offenders is a crucial step in improving the efficacy of interventions aimed at lowering the prevalence of domestic abuse.
“Counseling promotes culture of non-violence and respect since abusers are also victims of past circumstances. They are emotionally wounded, and that wound continues to haunt them,” she said.
According to Victorino, counseling service with perpetrators is done to prevent future abuse, to rehabilitate the abuser, develop good values and correct their cognitive distortions and beliefs.
She made this statement following the first day of a three-day seminar on counseling services for the rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic violence held at the Davidson Hotel.
The three-day training on counseling service for the rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic abuse was attended by social workers from the city and municipal local government units of Kalinga, personnel from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), members from the Provincial Council Against Trafficking and Violence Against Women and Children (PCAT-VAWC), Philippine National Police, and academe counselors. By Darwin S. Serion
