• Signup for Email
  • About Children’s Home & Aid
    • Mission & Vision
    • Meet Our Leadership Team
      • Mike Shaver
      • Jan Stepto-Millett
      • Angelica Stapert
      • Sean Soun
      • Paula Corrigan-Halpern
      • Sara Irmen
      • Dawnielle Jeffrey
      • Lynsey Sloan
      • Mendy Smith
      • Renae Storey
      • Amanda Whitlock
    • Board of Trustees
    • License & Accreditation
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financial Information
    • Client Policy and Rights
  • Get Involved
    • Join an Auxiliary Board
      • Join the Young Professionals Board
        • Membership Request Form
      • Hinsdale Auxiliary
      • Lost Dunes Golf Committee
      • Rice Leadership Committee
      • The Woman’s Board
      • Central Regional Advisory Board
      • Northern Regional Advisory Board
      • Southern Regional Advisory Board
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Chicagoland
      • Volunteer Central
      • Volunteer Northern
      • Volunteer Southern
  • Ways to Give
    • Make a Donation
    • Double Your Impact – Matching Gifts
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Make a Gift of Stock
    • Give Through Your IRA
    • Children’s Home & Aid Legacy Society
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Shop Amazon Smile
    • See Your Impact
    • Create Your Own Fundraising Event
  • Policy Center
    • Advocacy
    • Start to Finish Coalition
    • Youth Budget Commission
    • Our Projects
    • The Ahlquist Agenda Podcast
    • Result of the Quarter
    • Get our Newsletter!
  • Events
  • Blog & News
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Equity, Diversion and Inclusion Resources
    • Black History Month 2022
      • Black History Month 2021
    • Self-Care After the Election
    • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Native American Heritage Month
    • Women’s History Month
    • Juneteenth
    • Pride Month
Children's Home + Aid
Donate
  • DONATE NOW
  • Child Welfare
    Services
    • Intact Family Services
    •  Foster Care
      Services
      • Become a Foster Parent
        • Learn More – Informational Meetings
      • Foster Parent Resources
      • Excellence Academy
      • Specialized Foster Care
    •  Foster to
      Adopt
      • Become an Adoptive Parent
      • Adoption & Guardianship Preservation
      • Adoption Information Request
      • Adoption Resources
      • The PEPAC Program
      • Post-Adoption Services Program
  •  Counseling &
    Treatment Programs
    • Adoption Support & Preservation
    • Choose 2 Change
    • Community Based Behavioral Health
    • Families And Children in Treatment
    • Family Centered Counseling Services
    • Family Solutions
    • Chicago Project Connect
    • Helping Children Heal Through Extensive Therapy
      • The Rice Center
    • The Butterfly Project
    • Family Counseling for Youth in Crisis
      • Redeploy Illinois Children Program
      • Youth Services
      • Host Home Placement
  • Parenting
    • The Butterfly Project
    • The Children’s Room
    • The Crisis Nursery Program
      • Motherhouse Crisis Nursery
      • Bloomington Crisis Nursery
    • Early Start
    • Family Visitation Center
    • Healthy Families Illinois
    • Doula Services
    • Kid’s Turn
    • Parents Care & Share
    • The PEPAC Program
    • Stronger Beginnings for Families
    • Thriving Fathers & Families
  •  Child Care
    & Education
    • Community Child Care Centers
      • Bloomington
      • Carpentersville
      • Englewood
      • Palatine
      • Schaumburg
      • Viva Chicago
    • Early Head Start
    • The Head Start Program
    • Preschool For All
    • Child Care Assistance Program
      • CCAP Request Form
    • Child Care Resource and Referral
      • Southern Region
        • Looking for Child Care
        • Parent Resources
        • Provider Services
        • Statistical Information
        • Training Opportunities
        • CCR&R Staff Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Signup for Email
  • About Children’s Home & Aid
    • Mission & Vision
    • Meet Our Leadership Team
      • Mike Shaver
      • Jan Stepto-Millett
      • Angelica Stapert
      • Sean Soun
      • Paula Corrigan-Halpern
      • Sara Irmen
      • Dawnielle Jeffrey
      • Lynsey Sloan
      • Mendy Smith
      • Renae Storey
      • Amanda Whitlock
    • Board of Trustees
    • License & Accreditation
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financial Information
    • Client Policy and Rights
  • Get Involved
    • Join an Auxiliary Board
      • Join the Young Professionals Board
        • Membership Request Form
      • Hinsdale Auxiliary
      • Lost Dunes Golf Committee
      • Rice Leadership Committee
      • The Woman’s Board
      • Central Regional Advisory Board
      • Northern Regional Advisory Board
      • Southern Regional Advisory Board
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Chicagoland
      • Volunteer Central
      • Volunteer Northern
      • Volunteer Southern
  • Ways to Give
    • Make a Donation
    • Double Your Impact – Matching Gifts
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Make a Gift of Stock
    • Give Through Your IRA
    • Children’s Home & Aid Legacy Society
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Shop Amazon Smile
    • See Your Impact
    • Create Your Own Fundraising Event
  • Policy Center
    • Advocacy
    • Start to Finish Coalition
    • Youth Budget Commission
    • Our Projects
    • The Ahlquist Agenda Podcast
    • Result of the Quarter
    • Get our Newsletter!
  • Events
  • Blog & News
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Equity, Diversion and Inclusion Resources
    • Black History Month 2022
      • Black History Month 2021
    • Self-Care After the Election
    • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Native American Heritage Month
    • Women’s History Month
    • Juneteenth
    • Pride Month
Return to all blog and news posts

From Intern to Innovative Partner Abuse Intervention Program Supervisor

by Gelasia Croom
10/10/2017  |  Internship

Erin Bergren’s inspiring career path began as a Master of Social Work student at Northern Illinois University. When Erin expressed his desire for more clinical experience, his university mentor suggested interning with Children’s Home + Aid; describing the internship opportunity as a place where he would be able to “be in the trenches.”

Although Erin started at Children’s Home + Aid as an intern, his career with the agency did not end there. Following the completion of his internship, Erin was hired as a therapist in the Partner Abuse Intervention Program and promoted to supervisor four years later. The Partner Abuse Intervention Program allows participants to join an open forum to share their experiences and find alternative ways of processing their emotions rather than through violence. The program is meaningful to Erin because he collaborated with the clinical team to create it while an intern. Erin’s internship and current supervisor, Lori, remarked that his efforts were instrumental in writing the program’s protocol.

Lori encouraged Erin to help build the Partner Abuse Intervention Program, feeling that he would be an excellent fit for the job. Erin’s passion for the Partner Abuse Intervention Program and providing innovative treatment for the families we serve is contagious. He emphasizes the importance of Children’s Home + Aid’s a trauma informed approach to treating not only domestic violence victims but their partners as well. “Everybody gets to where they are in life through experiences. Many clinicians don’t fully appreciate the trauma that the partners of domestic violence victims may have experienced earlier in their lives that helped create the current situation. When we look at the problem through a trauma-informed perspective, we’re able to do more than treat a bullet hole with a band aid.”

Erin emphasizes the importance of an exceptional supervisor, stating that Lori taught him many of the techniques he demonstrates in his own supervisory capacity. “My relationship with Lori was very strong. Part of what made Lori a great supervisor were her strong listening and communication skills, which allowed me to learn a lot from her. Now as a supervisor myself, I work hard to make sure that I am doing everything I need to in order to support my staff.” Next year, Erin is planning to begin a doctorate program and intends to continue working with perpetrators of domestic violence in order to find the most effective ways to treat these individuals. “If I can figure out a better way to treat these victim batterers then, in many ways, that means I will be protecting the women on the receiving end of this violence.”

If you are interested in working or interning for Children’s Home + Aid, please visit our Career Opportunities page.

Simone Kohn is a Children’s Home + Aid Human Resources intern completing her Master of Social Work degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

share
No Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search the Blog

Categories

  • 135th Anniversary (16)
    • Hope With Wings (1)
  • Adoption (15)
  • Associate Board (1)
  • Black History Month (3)
  • Blue Bow Campaign (18)
  • Butterfly Project (1)
  • Central Region (24)
  • Champions for Children (11)
  • Chicago Cubs (2)
  • Child Welfare (12)
  • City of Chicago (25)
    • One Summer Chicago (12)
      • Summer Intern Project (8)
  • Corporate Partner Spotlight (6)
  • COVID (1)
  • Crisis Nursery (9)
  • Cultural Competence (2)
  • Diversion and Inclusion (1)
  • Diversity and Inclusion (1)
  • Domestic Violence (1)
  • Donor Spotlight (2)
  • Early Childhood Services (16)
  • EDI (6)
  • Education (9)
    • Literacy (1)
  • Equity (1)
  • Families Thriving Podcast (2)
  • Family Visitation Center (1)
  • Fatherhood (4)
  • Fiscal Scan (4)
  • Foster Care (8)
  • Foster Care Spotlight (2)
  • Foster Parent Mentoring (5)
  • Fundraising (25)
    • Stuff the Bus (2)
  • Graze & Raise (1)
  • Healthy Families Home Visiting (2)
  • Holiday Time (19)
  • Home Visiting (1)
  • In the News (16)
  • Jerri Hoffmann Child & Family Center (1)
  • LGBTQ (1)
  • Memorial Day (1)
  • Mental Health (5)
  • Mission (27)
    • Careers (14)
      • Internship (7)
    • Leadership Spotlight (9)
  • Mitzi Freidheim Child + Family Center (4)
  • MotherHouse (1)
  • Mothers Day (1)
  • Northern Region (13)
  • Philanthropy (9)
  • Power of Fathers (4)
  • Program Results (58)
    • CCAP (2)
    • Choose 2 Change (7)
    • Community Schools (5)
    • Doula (4)
    • Foster Care (19)
      • Intact Family Services (2)
    • Head Start (2)
    • Healthy Start (2)
    • Mentoring (5)
    • Parents Care + Share (2)
    • Redeploy Illinois (2)
    • RISE (1)
    • Safe from the Start (2)
    • Stat of the Month (3)
    • Stronger Beginnings for Families (3)
  • Relative Caregivers (2)
  • Rice Child + Family Center (19)
  • Southern Region (13)
  • State Budget Crisis (6)
  • The Ahlquist Center (30)
    • Advocacy (18)
    • Newsletter (7)
  • Uncategorized (18)
    • Mentorship (4)
  • Veterans Day (2)
  • Volunteer Spotlight (4)
  • Woman's Board (7)
  • Youth Budget (2)

On Twitter

My Tweets

HRC Seal of Recognition

Image
Children's Home + Aid is a recognized leader in supporting and serving LGBT families.
Children's Home + Aid

Corporate Home Office

200 West Monroe Street, Ste 2100, Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 424-0200
+ DONATE NOW!

ABOUT

  • Media / Press Room
    • Press Releases
  • Careers
  • Financial Information
  • Corporate & Foundation Partners
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy

GET IN TOUCH

  • Contact Us
  • Volunteer
  • United Way
  • COA

© copyright 2022 children’s home + aid