Morris Eagle, Ph.D., Clinical Supervisor and Distinguished Educator in Residence at CLU

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - California Lutheran University and Verizon are presenting a breakfast and panel discussion on domestic violence from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 8, in CLU’s Lundring Events Center.

The free event is being held in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and will highlight the launch of a CLU program for domestic violence survivors.

The panelists are the following: Catherine Dougan, director of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Victims’ Assistance Program; Morris Eagle, Ph.D., a clinical supervisor and Distinguished Educator in Residence at CLU; Caroline Prijatel Sutton, executive director of The Coalition to End Family Violence; Rick Vasquez, a senior detective on the Oxnard Police Department’s Domestic Violence Investigation Team; and Anthony Wold, a supervising prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office. Mindy Puopolo, Psy.D., director of CLU’s Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program, will moderate.

The panelists will discuss the challenges to preventing domestic violence in the local community and possible solutions, including CLU’s new program. Funded in part by a $200,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation, the Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program began in September at CLU’s Community Counseling Centers in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks. Existing programs already provide shelter and crisis services so CLU’s goal was to provide long-term help to break the cycle of violence. Whereas counseling programs typically focus on perpetrators with limited success, this 20-week program was designed to give survivors tools for defusing volatile situations and protecting themselves. A licensed clinician and graduate student lead group meetings and students work as liaisons with the legal system to advocate for the survivors. The survivors and their children also receive free individual counseling as needed.

An overview of “Telling Amy’s Story,” a PBS documentary following the timeline of a domestic violence homicide, will be shown. State Sen. Tony Strickland will give the introduction.

Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of injury and death to American women. Studies estimate that 25 percent of women have been raped or physically assaulted by their current or former spouse, cohabitating partner or date at some time in their lives. Survivors return to their partners an average of seven times.

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center north of Olsen Road near Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks.

Reservations are required. RSVP by Sept. 30 to Jenna Knauss at jknauss@callutheran.edu or (805) 493-3390. Guests are encouraged to bring old wireless phones and accessories to donate to Verizon’s HopeLine program that supports domestic violence prevention agencies.