Domestic violence and batterer intervention referrals, delivered as a clinical program rather than a punishment.
Individuals referred by a court after a domestic violence charge, or as a condition of probation, diversion, or a protective order.
Many people in these cases have been hurt as well as harmful. Some were abused earlier in life. Some are in relationships where both partners have been violent. When a program treats them as nothing but an offender, they shut down and stop participating. This program holds participants fully accountable without writing them off, which is what keeps them engaged long enough to change.
Change is not a single event. It is a process, and lasting growth comes from repeated choices practiced consistently over time.
Every session is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, targeting the connection between thought, emotion, and behavior. Because the approach is skill-based, participants leave with strategies they keep using rather than compliance that ends with the court order.
Each week builds on the one before it. Participants work from the Healthy Relationships Workbook, with structured exercises, reflection prompts, and CBT-based strategies in every session.
Tools taught across the program include the R.E.S.T.O.R.E. growth principles, the Four R’s, Fact versus Feelings, the S.C.R. communication method, HALT, mindfulness and grounding skills, and relapse prevention planning.
There is no cost to the referring municipality. Program fees are paid by the participant, and payment arrangements can be made as long as the balance is paid before completion of the group.
A certificate of completion is issued only after a required final presentation in which the participant demonstrates mastery of the skills taught. Attendance alone does not complete the program.
Participants also receive three free individual or family counseling sessions, which may be used during the program or within 30 days of completion.
A charge sheet phrase like “batterer intervention” tells a participant who they are before they have said a word. People who walk in feeling condemned tend to spend the first several weeks defending themselves instead of working, and some never stop.
In collaboration with Shelby County, RCS renamed the program Healthy Relationships so the title describes what participants are building rather than what brought them here. That matters most for participants who have been both victim and offender, where a condemning label makes early buy-in far harder to reach.
Since the change we have seen noticeably lower resistance and markedly stronger early engagement. Clinical content, program length, and court requirements are unchanged. Removing the stigma from the name does not lower the standard. It gets participants through the door willing to do the work, which is where every outcome starts.