Domestic Abuse Program

We break the myth, the silence and the cycle of domestic abuse in the Jewish community

The Domestic Abuse Program at Goodman JFS provides short- and long- term confidential assistance to help domestic abuse survivors and families transition and maintain a healthy and safe life through individual and group therapy, case management and guidance. Our program helps abuse survivors create a safety plan and learn necessary self-advocacy and self-sufficiency skills.

Services include:

• Case Management – Clients receive information and referral services to address their immediate physical, financial, and emotional well-being. Clients develop self-advocacy skills as well as gain and maintain control over their own lives.
• Individual Counseling – Our individual counseling services provide clients with the opportunity to address the effects of domestic abuse on their mental health. Individual therapy helps clients work on identifying and shifting problematic patterns of thinking and creating healthier relationships.
• Group Therapy – Our support groups are for individuals who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse. We provide a safe space where group members find comfort, peer support and tools for empowerment and personal growth.
• Community Presentations to schools, corporations, clubs, temples and civic groups in order to raise awareness and educate audiences about domestic abuse. Participants learn warning signs, prevention strategies and about resources available to help.
• Your Voice – Your Choice: Dating Interactive Workshops offer adolescents and young adults in Broward County the knowledge and resources to understand what constitutes a healthy relationship. These workshops empower teens to speak up and find their voices against abuse before it starts.

For more information about community presentations, email trydz@jfsbroward.org

Know the Signs of Domestic Abuse

Take a look at some warning signs of domestic abuse. Does your intimate partner:

• Look at you or act in ways that scare you
• Control what you do, who you see or talk to, or where you go
• Stop you from seeing your friends or family members
• Make all of the decisions
• Tell you that you’re a bad parent or threaten to take away or hurt your children
• Threaten to kill himself or herself
• Prevent you from working or going to school
• Act like the abuse is no big deal or is your fault, or even deny doing it
• Tell you that you can never do anything right
• Show extreme jealousy of your friends and time spent away
• Keeps you or discourages you from seeing friends or family members
• Insult, demean or shame you with put-downs
• Hold children ‘hostage’
• Have rigid expectations of marriage and sexual behavior
• Control your access to financial resources

Did You Know?

• Every nine seconds a woman in the United States is assaulted or beaten
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime
• It takes a Jewish woman 3-5 times longer to leave an abusive relationship
• More than 48% of women and men experience at least one type of psychologically aggressive behavior by an intimate partner
• 1 in 3 teens experience dating abuse

If you – or someone you know – is experiencing domestic abuse, please speak up and help break the silence.