This week we are speaking with Bea Coté, Executive Director of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs. Bea will share her rich history of her work the movement to end domestic violence.

Bea Coté M.Ed., LCSW, LMFT

Bea Coté is a therapist and advocate who has worked exclusively with abusers for over 24 years. Prior to that, her focus was on child and family mental health and safety.

She is the founder of IMPACT+ Abuse Prevention Services, which provides access to DVIP/Battering Intervention services, supports programs like Legacy, and spreads a message of prevention of domestic violence throughout the Carolinas. The IMPACT DVIP is the only such program certified by the State in Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland and Union counties and also serves Mecklenburg County.

Bea trains and consults regionally, nationally and internationally on all facets of domestic violence/intimate partner abuse and has developed an expertise in an overlooked DV demographic: the abuser. She especially enjoys training therapists and family law attorneys.

She reminds the community that #OnlyAbusersCanStopAbuse and #InterventionISPrevention and that anytime there is a discussion about domestic violence in your community, those who work with the abusers must be at the table. Bea reminds us that IMPACT+ is rebranding. Find them at www.impactdv.org. "Thank you to our Board, our partners, our advisors and volunteers."

(We are rebranding! Find us at www.stepuptofamilysafety.org and on Charity Navigator; or for our IMPACT program referrals, www.impactdv.org)

Thank you to Belmont’s Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church for providing us a Gaston County place to meet!

Referenced during this podcast episode:

A Call For Change Helpline: https://acallforchangehelpline.org/

Battering Intervention Programs article by Bea Coté M.Ed., LCSW, LMFT

https://www.biscmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bea-Cote-FA-47-2-Fall24-Cote.pdf