Change Step
DAP’s Group for Male Veterans
Click to read the Press Release
Change Step Funders Blog (password protected)
DAP is proud to launch Change Step, an innovative treatment for veterans with the generous support of DAP’s long-time corporate funder Verizon and other interested individual funders organized by Al Horner, former Navy SEAL and owner of “Not Me!” self-defense training.
The hero. After multiple deployments this bright, strong man knew he was on the edge. He’d seen too much. He witnessed atrocities and was unable to report their effects on him because doing so would compromise the trust and confidence in his abilities. He asked to be taken off the front lines, but he was experienced and senior. They gave him medals of valor and directed him to lead more men into combat. After destroying his first marriage he found himself in a Twin Cities suburb with a pistol in each hand squared off against eight law enforcement officers. Somehow they figured out a resolution without shooting. But where does he go from there?
The problem.
Warriors risk their lives on behalf of our country. They use violence to protect themselves, to protect their comrades, to protect us. We buy them coffee in airports and say, “thanks for your service.” We give them medals. When they return to civilian life, if they use violence, we punish them. We shame them. We cast them aside.
Our warriors deserve better from us, and DAP can help.
Why DAP?
DAP has 33 years of documented success in giving men the tools they need to eliminate violent behaviors and replace them with behaviors that build healthy relationships. 90% of the men who completed DAP’s program had no arrests or police reports for domestic violence during the year following completion – 90%!
Violence is a tool a warrior needs. Violence is a tool a family man needs to eliminate – and DAP shows him how. We’d never take a new recruit and send him directly to the battlefield without training – why do we expect him to make the transition back to civilian life without support?
With the tools DAP gives him, the veteran can eliminate violent behaviors, build a healthy relationship with his family, avoid scrapes with the law and succeed in his return to civilian life
The statistics.
- 81% of veterans suffering from depression and PTSD engaged in at least one violent act against their partner in the past year. -Dept. of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Health & Environmental Hazards (Jan 2009)
- Male veterans with PTSD are 2 to 3 times more likely to engage in domestic violence compared to those without PTSD. -Dept. of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Health & Environmental Hazards (Jan 2009)
- 44% of the of the troops who went to the VA for help were diagnosed with one or more mental health injuries -M.D. Sherman, F. Sautter, M.H. Hope, J.A. Lyons and X. Han, “Domestic Violence in Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Who Seek Couples Therapy.” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (2006)
Change Step
A pilot program for veterans who have used abusive behaviors with their intimate partners. DAP draws upon its more than 32 years of evidence-based work with men in a psycho-educational group to help them end abusive behaviors and replace them with actions that build and support healthy relationships. CHANGE STEP uses a similar approach to develop and implement a program tailored specifically to veterans of the armed services. It will incorporate the impact of military culture, deployment and resulting separation from family and the effects of combat.
Change Step Phases of Development
How YOU Can Help Our Veterans
Contact Information
For information on Change Step and/or to register contact Heidi Carlson, DAP’s Men’s Program Supervisor. Please email Heidi or call 612.874.7063 x228.
Media inquiries please contact Sonia Palmer, Senior Advancement Officer & Communications Director, via email or phone 612.874.7063 x217.