SNHU Agents of Change Podcast · SNHU Social Sciences

Season 5 Ep 14: Curbing Domestic Violence- Int'l Therapeutic Intervention Model

·28 min·1 clip

When clergy couples were separated, the women became far more vocal and the men explained why they shut down.

1. SNHU’s Agents of Change Podcast Season 5 Ep 14 centers on curbing domestic violence through an emotionally focused therapy model used in Kenya. 2. Dr. Hector Garcia hosts the episode, and Dr. Mary Henson joins as a clinical faculty member and counselor whose international work in Kenya drives the discussion. 3. The episode asks how counseling can reduce intimate partner violence in a setting shaped by silence, cultural expectations, and emotional distance. 4. Henson says she entered international counseling after a trip abroad and conversations with colleagues about unique community challenges. 5. She explains that the team focused on Kenya through the Conexa project after hearing about rising violence and the difficulty of training practitioners there. 6. Henson says a group from the United States self-funded travel, ran a two-week training series, and planned six months of follow-up with participants. 7. She cites recent studies showing about a third to 40% of women in the Kenyan community report physical partner violence beginning at age 15. 8. Henson says there had already been several fatalities from intimate partner violence in the community where the training took place. 9. She describes weeks of preparation before travel so the team could respect Kenyan couple dynamics, age hierarchy, and the role of clergy. 10. Henson says 'young people' can mean people 40 and under in that context, which changes who can speak and how openly. 11. She says men are expected to protect, but not necessarily to show vulnerability, and that expectation can carry across generations. 12. Henson notes that men sometimes avoid home, disengage from children, or respond with violence when emotional shutdown escalates. 13. She explains that attachment theory and emotionally focused therapy center on whether a person feels another person is a safe place to go. 14. Henson says clergy and elders are often the first place men go for support, so their responses matter in public and private life. 15. She describes a clergy training where women were more vocal after being separated from their partners and men were more specific about their behavior. 16. Henson says validation was a major tool because partners could say what they heard without agreeing, which helped shorten arguments. 17. She says the team also had to adapt tone, presentation, and examples because the original EFT model was not built as a multicultural framework. 18. Henson and Garcia keep the tone conversational and reflective, with repeated examples from training, community visits, and relationship-building over meals. 19. Listeners interested in culturally responsive counseling, intimate partner violence, or EFT will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a fast, entertainment-first conversation probably will not.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from SNHU Agents of Change Podcast