John Hamel, LCSW, has a B.A. in psychology and a Masters in Social Welfare from U.C.L.A. He has been in private practice since 1990, with offices in Pleasant Hill, California, and in Greenbrae, California. Along with Darlene Pratt, MFT and his other associates, Mr. Hamel provides a wide range of clinical, consultation and training services. His major areas of expertise are in the assessment and treatment of anger management and family violence, as well as substance abuse and co-dependency. Specialized clinical services include a substance abuse relapse prevention group, family violence assessments, victim services and advocacy, and treatment programs for angry and violent men, women, couples, parents and teens. Although many of his clients are voluntary participants, many are referred from Family Court or Child Protective Services, or mandated by the courts to participate in either a batterer treatment program, or a parenting program.

Mr. Hamel has provided consultation and training for mental health professionals, batterer intervention providers, shelter workers and victim advocates, court mediators and evaluators, teachers, attorneys and law enforcement; and has spoken on family violence at a number of events, including the California Dept. of Social Services 10th Annual Family Strengths Training Institute, and the FVSAI 9th International Conferences on Family Violence. In 2005, he was invited to present at the FVSAI 10th International Conference, to conduct an extended training on the gender-inclusive approach to domestic violence. His 7-hour workshop, High Conflict to Battering, has been praised both for its innovative look at theory and policy, as well as its abundance of practical, hands-on intervention tools. Mr. Hamel is a passionate advocate for a research-based, gender-inclusive approach to domestic violence, and an active member of the Family Violence Treatment and Education Association (www.FAVTEA.com).

Author of Domestic Violence Today, a manual on domestic violence characteristics and etiology (www.FAVTEA.com/research), Mr. Hamel has also authored the book, Gender-Inclusive Treatment of Intimate Partner Abuse: A Comprehensive Approach (Springer, 2005). His upcoming book, co-edited with Tonia Nicholls, PhD, will be published under the title, Family Approaches to Domestic Violence: A Guide to Gender-Inclusive Research and Treatment (Springer, 2006).

Mr. Hamel is married and lives with his wife, Judi, and their twins, Jacob and Aviva, in San Rafael, California. He can be contacted at his Greenbrae, CA office, (415) 472-3275, or by e-mail at: