Understanding the Intersections between Domestic Violence Survivors, Therapy, & Minnesota Courts

The intersection between therapy and the courts is complicated and presents unique challenges to psychologists.  It also presents unique challenges for our clients who are survivors of domestic violence.  Individuals who attend this session will learn how to identify and define domestic violence/domestic abuse, in both the therapeutic setting and in the Minnesota legal standards that most impact our clients.  By comparing and contrasting these definitions and standards, attendees will learn how these standards inform their clients’ pursuit of orders for protection and how that pursuit impacts their therapeutic needs.  Attendees will also identify specific methods to employ to support their clients through other types of family court litigation like divorces and child custody cases.  Following this session, attendees will be able to pinpoint privacy, confidentiality, and competency concerns that arise at the intersection of the work of therapists, lawyers, clients, and courts, and will know specific strategies for resolving the most pressing of these concerns, including how to handle subpoenas and requests for testimony.  

• Comparing and contrasting definitions of domestic violence/domestic abuse pursuant to therapeutic and legal standards. 

• Describing the order for protection pursuit process and identifying how that process impacts clients’ therapeutic needs.

• Recognizing ways to help clients involved in the family court system (i.e. divorce & child custody cases).

• Developing increased awareness about privacy, confidentiality, and competency concerns between therapists, lawyers, clients, and the court.

MN Board of Social Work

2.0 CEUs (CEP-275)

MN Board of Nursing

This activity has been designed to meet the Minnesota Board of Nursing continuing education requirements. However, the nurse is responsible for determining whether this activity meets the requirements for acceptable continuing education.

Shannon Goecke-Watson, PsyD, LP is the owner of SGW Psychological Services LLC, a small private practice located in Eagan, MN. Dr. Goecke-Watson exclusively treats individuals who have experienced psychological aftereffects of domestic violence using evidence-based methods in both group and individual psychotherapy. Her training background stems from her time working as a domestic violence advocate, the robust coursework and trauma-focused training experiences she completed while she obtained her Masters and Doctoral degrees in Counseling from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and from the numerous survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence with whom she has worked in multiple settings since completing her degree.

Dr. Goecke-Watson’s expertise on the topic of domestic violence and passion for advocacy has led to her being a sought-after presenter and trainer. She has presented more than 30 trainings on domestic violence to a variety of audiences including mental health professionals, lawyers, individuals working to obtain mediation certification, and domestic violence shelter advocates. In addition, Dr. Goecke-Watson has taught multiple classes at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and is an adjunct instructor for the People Incorporated Training Institute. Outside of her psychotherapeutic training and treatment efforts, Dr. Goecke-Watson is actively engaged in mental health-based legislative efforts through the Minnesota Psychological Association. She also is the current Minesota representative on the American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives.

Heather Turner Morgan, Esq., J.D. owns Morgan Law & Mediation LLC, where she works as a criminal defense and family law attorney and a mediator.   Domestic abuse is a key component of the bulk of her divorce and child custody cases, many of which are impacted by parallel litigation in Order for Protection cases involving the same parties and their children.  Heather works regularly with domestic abuse advocates, shelter and social workers, and mental health professionals in their roles as practitioners, witnesses, and experts summoned to court, and is a volunteer litigation attorney for the Domestic Abuse Legal Advocacy Center, PSC.  Heather is a practitioner and proponent of a trauma-informed approach to lawyering.  She uniquely sculpts her representation of each client to minimize the traumatic impact on them of their participation in litigation and prioritize their emotional and physical safety.

Heather received her law degree as a Dean’s Scholar at the University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law and a volunteer attorney representing survivors in Order for Protection cases.  Prior to pursuing her legal career, Heather volunteered as an advocate at the country’s first shelter for survivors of domestic abuse in Cambridge, Massachusetts.