Support Groups

Women Art Therapy and Counseling Groups (and for your kids, Children’s Group)
Time: Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Location: First United Methodist Church 16th Avenue, Polson

Participants: Women who have been affected by violence

Group Format: Monthly rotation of Counseling and Art Therapy

DOVES Women’s Groups offer an opportunity to participate in Counseling and engage in Art Therapy in a confidential, safe, and judgment-free environment.

Your level of sharing is completely up to you. We welcome you no matter where you are on your journey and believe you have the right, ability, and wisdom to grow in ways that fit the best for you. While mom is at her group, her children may attend the Children’s Group.

All groups are facilitated by mental health professionals with extensive experience working with domestic violence survivors.

MAP Group (Men’s Accountablity Program)

The Men’s Accountability Program, or MAP group, is a batterer intervention group that began in April of 2008, and meets every Wednesday in Polson. The MAP group is funded by a grant from the Office on Violence Against Women of the
Department of Justice, which requires that:

• Program must be court-mandated, as opposed to voluntary.
• Program must NOT be anger management classes.
• Program must be related to specific domestic violence incident or episode.
• No option for perpetrators to enter pre-trial diversion program.
• Confidentiality of victims must be ensured.
• No mediation or couples counseling will be a part of this project.
• Program needs to use the coercive power of the criminal justice system to hold
batterers accountable.

DOVES staff members track compliance with the court orders, and report back to judges/probation officers on compliant and non-compliant offenders. This gives DOVES the ability to use the coercive power of the criminal justice system to hold batterers accountable.
The MAP group is an ongoing program; each participant must attend 19 2-hour sessions (these, plus the intake and exit interview, fulfill the 40-hour requirement mandated by Montana law).