New therapy program for violent men coming to N.W.T.

A new therapy program designed for men with a history of violence is coming to the Northwest Territories.

In the N.W.T., men are 4.5 times more likely than women to abuse their spouses or children.

The new program is designed to help them take responsibility for their violent actions and avoid violence in the future.

Tod Augusta-Scott is a social worker from Nova Scotia who came to Yellowknife to train staff at the Healing Drum Society, which will run the program..

He says, through narrative therapy, positive attitudes can lead to positive actions.

"If people have a negative story of themselves, then they often perform and do negative things," Augusta-Scott says.

"Part of what we want to do as narrative therapists is really intervene in that and find out what other stories can be told about the men that would actually help them move away from abuse and towards respectful, caring relationships."

This is the first time a program of its kind has been brought north.

"It's a program designed for men," says Joe Pintarics, the society’s executive director. "It's a program that asks, what are my choices as a human being that dictate or predicate my using violence as a way of relating?"

Augusta-Scott says it's hard to measure success rates for the therapy, but he says he has seen men open up about their feelings and take responsibility for their actions.

The program is expected to roll-out at the end of January.