Over 20 years of
EXPERIENCE
working with domestic violence nationally and internationally
Brian has over twenty years’ experience
as an academic, professional practitioner, trainer, supervisor, and educator in the domestic violence sector. Initially, he was trained in the Duluth coordinated community approach to working with perpetrators and has been a facilitator of men’s programs for many years. His PhD research, completed in the USA, explored the effectiveness of court-mandated programs for male DV offenders.
Dr. Brian Sullivan
Brian has been an invited speaker, presenter and educator on domestic violence interventions and working with perpetrators. Some of the groups he has presented to, include:
-
Domestic Violence Intervention Services
-
Police officers
-
Probation and Parole Officers
-
Custodial Correctional Officers
-
Qld Magistrates
-
Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia
-
Medical services and General Practitioners
-
Guidance Officers and School Counsellors
-
Qld Counsellors Association
-
Psychologists
-
Indigenous Services
-
Various Businesses/workplaces
Brian is or has been a DV Intervention consultant with:
-
Domestic Violence Intervention Services
-
Police officers
-
Correction officers
-
Qld Magistrates
-
Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia
-
Medical services and General Practitioners
-
Guidance Officers and School Counsellors
-
Qld Counsellors Association
-
Psychologists
-
Indigenous Services
-
Various Businesses/workplaces
-
the Australian Institute of Criminology
-
the ABC on DV reporting in the Media
-
Indigenous Services
-
Men’s DV Intervention programs
Brian is a member of the Red Rose Foundation. He is also a member of the QLd Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Advisory Committee.
He was an invited Qld Delegate for the National Summit on Women’s Safety Forum – Perpetrator Intervention and Working with Men.
Dr. Elisa Agostinelli is a family therapist and a lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland. She is also the Program Director of Postgraduate Counselling Programs. Elisa has worked in the area of trauma, grief and loss with children and families for the past 15 years.
Having studied and trained as a clinical psychologist in Rome, she then obtained her Ph.D. in the USA in counselling and mental health. She also studied and trained as a family therapist with Dr. Maurizio Andolfi at the Accademia di Psicoterapia Della Famiglia in Rome. Her passion is working with children and their families that have experienced trauma.
Dr Elisa Agostinelli
Elisa has extensive experience within many areas including:
-
Domestic Violence Intervention Services
-
Police officers
-
Correction officers
-
Qld Magistrates
-
Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia
-
Medical services and General Practitioners
-
Guidance Officers and School Counsellors
-
Qld Counsellors Association
-
Psychologists
-
Indigenous Services
-
Various Businesses/workplaces
-
counselling experience working with individual, families, couples and children
-
working with child abuse and neglect, DV and issues related to family separation and losses
-
working with survivors of sexual abuse and incest
Elisa is very aware of the importance of working systemically and multidisciplinary within the complexity of developmental trauma. Elisa specialises in:
-
Supervising teachers and school counsellors to support a collaborative approach to trauma informed interventions.
-
She underlines the importance of allowing children and adult to feel safe and supported during the counselling session.
-
She focuses on allowing the children and adults to maximise the therapeutic outcome in their unique way and supports them in developing their personal resources and strengths.
Our Core Values
The values we strive to live as a team and in our work:
Peace
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”
Justice
"You cannot have dignity or social justice or freedom without women."- Nawal El Saadawi
Integrity
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching” C.S. Lewis
Hope
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are" - Augustine of Hippo
Safety
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. - Article 3 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Connectedness
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” -Martin Luther King Jr
Accountability
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable” Moliere
Respect
“We should all consider each other as human beings, and we should respect each other” - Malala Yousafzai