Allison Guerra, Director of the Battering Intervention and Prevention (BIP) Program at AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse), is committed to transforming lives by addressing family violence at its core. In her dialogue with Fermata Insights, she shares insights into AVDA’s impactful work, from providing support for both survivors and perpetrators to engaging in youth and community outreach. With a background in counseling and a journey that began as a part-time assistant, Allison now leads a program focused on rehabilitating domestic violence offenders, highlighting the importance of empathy, accountability, and dedicated support systems in fostering lasting change.
Can you provide an overview of AVDA and the work that you do?
AVDA stands for Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. We are a nonprofit organization, and AVDA is working to end family violence by serving the survivor, as well as the perpetrator of abuse. We have a legal advocacy program and counseling for survivors. We also do youth and community outreach as well.
I am the Director of BIP (Battering Intervention and Prevention Program). We’re a fully accredited program. Our goals are to rehabilitate perpetrators of abuse by fostering change and accountability. Addressing past abusive/controlling behaviors and current.
Our goal is to rehabilitate perpetrators, the abusers of domestic violence, intimate partner relationships, holding them accountable for their behavior.
BIP is an accredited program through the state of Texas. We are an 18-week program, and it’s psycho educational. BIP’s program is broken down into 3 phases. Orientation, Evaluation and Group. A participant will attend an orientation, and they will attend an evaluation appointment. Orientation is done in a group format. Evaluation is done on a one-on-one setting. The evaluation is an overview of the client’s demographics. We go over their mental health history, substance abuse history, family history, and relationship history. We also look at their criminal background, we’ll review that, and then also the referral for why they’re being required to attend our program.
Most of our clients in our program are already involved in the criminal justice system, meaning they are required to complete this 18-week program. We serve clients that are coming from probation, parole, CPS, the court system. Once we receive that referral, they attend those two appointments and they can start their group sessions. We are a curriculum-based program and it’s done in a group format. They meet once a week for two hours at their assigned group location, and they graduate from the program on their 18th week.
At an organizational level, the AVDA staff includes myself—I am a licensed professional counselor associate. The BIPP team has one Social Worker, and four Licensed Professional Counselors, So, our staff is very diverse, in order to meet our clients’ needs in the BIP Program.
You started at AVDA as a part time assistant, and now you’re a licensed professional counselor associate (LPCA). Can you talk me through that journey? What inspired you and what has kept you motivated?
I have always been interested in the helping professions. I graduated from University of Houston-Downtown and previously attended Texas A&M in Kingsville, Texas. I was there for a couple of years. I originally started out in social work, then I switched over to psychology.
I finished my bachelor’s with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and then completed my Master of Counseling and Development from Lamar University, with a concentration in family and marriage counseling. And then after I graduated from the two-and-a-half-year program, I sat and took the national counselors’ exam, and I passed that, and I obtained my LPCA.
The way it works for licensed professional counselors post-graduation is you take your NCE (National Counselors Exam). Then, you have to work under a supervisor, which is what I’m doing right now, and you have to obtain 3000 hours. So, you have to obtain 1500 direct hours and 1500 indirect, I’m almost done. I have about 500 hours to obtain my full licensure.
And then, to the question of what keeps me motivated — I would say it’s the work that keeps me motivated, knowing that there is a need in this community. Working with the perpetrators of domestic violence is really what keeps me going. As far as my work here at AVDA as well as my education, what keeps me going still is wanting to be a good role model for my younger siblings and my daughter. As the oldest, I was the first one in my family to obtain any type of degree at a college level. So that has kept me motivated, almost to break a generational cycle. I wanted to pursue a higher education. I took some breaks along the way, but I finished.
You worked full-time while earning your bachelor’s and your master’s degrees. That’s a big commitment. What kept you going through that intense period?
I did work through both, yes! I would say a lot of patience kept me going, and a lot of grounding. Just remembering to take my time, not to rush. Self-reminders that I could do it, believing in myself. Time management is also important.
What advice would you give young people trying to achieve higher education while working?
I would say for the younger generation to give it a shot. I think traditionally, it can be hard to step outside of your comfort zone especially if you’re coming from generations that didn’t pursue any higher education, give it a shot.
Know that sometimes it will be overwhelming, and you will have a lot on your plate, but it’s such a good feeling at the end, when you know that you’ve achieved something that you’ve always wanted to do, and it works out. Even if you fail or you take a break, you can always go back and re-enroll in those courses.
But especially in the helping professions—fields like social work and counseling—there is such a huge need for a diverse population. For example, you see a lot of female counselors, but I don’t see too many male counselors.
So, again, I would say give it a shot, it’s really rewarding at the end.
What are the specific skills or lessons from your training in psychology that you find yourself relying on the most today?
Empathy. When you go to do your master’s and you are learning counseling skills and you’re practicing, you will do a lot of live-skill practicing. Through your internship experience and the behaviors they model. A good counselor in the field is practicing empathy, and the ability to be non-judgmental has helped me a lot.
Especially being in counseling settings and hearing everyone’s stories, I am able to practice that empathic understanding. I also believe that the empathic piece helps me outside of the group, even in my own personal relationships. With my daughter, with my husband, my family.
Practicing empathy, I would say, is a good skill.
What have you found to be key to building trust and connection in your counseling work? Would you say empathy plays a big role?
Yes, I think so. When we’re doing the work, we have to build rapport with clients, especially clients that are coming in that are mandated to take this program, so they have no other choice. They’re already coming in very guarded, we really have to work to practice empathy, to be non-judgmental, to listen actively. I would say those types of skills help out during sessions.
Are there any specific programs or initiatives at AVDA that you feel particularly passionate about growing or improving?
I would say, of course BIP – I think we’re always in a position to grow BIP.
And then I also really enjoy what the Community and Outreach Department does here at AVDA. They’re going into schools, (High School, I’m not too sure about Middle School) and I love that component. They’re going in and they’re teaching the students and the youth; ‘what is domestic violence?’ and ‘What could that look like in your teen dating relationships?’ And I really, I really enjoy that aspect of AVDA.
How can people support AVDA and the work that that you do with BIP?
We have a lot of opportunities for internships, volunteer work, where people can come into the office, even just help with the paperwork. We do take on interns in our program, so that’s anybody coming in at a master’s level, if they’re needing their internship experience, definitely BIP. If they’re wanting to come in to get that live experience, and then go on to take their LPC exam or even social work internships.
I would definitely say for BIP we take volunteers or students coming in for an internship and in the broader organization of AVDA as well, for counseling and general operations.
Lastly, for young advocates wanting to make a difference in their communities: what advice would you give about getting started?
I would find something that you’re interested in. If that is helping others, I think AVDA would be a great opportunity to start. But if you have that motivation and you want to be an advocate for others, specially underserved populations, definitely find something that you’re interested in and start a basic search of other nonprofits, maybe in the greater Houston area, where they offer volunteer work and start there.
Or, like myself, I started part time here at AVDA, and I worked my way up to be the Director of this program, just with it in mind that I was interested in a population like this. I was able to expand my knowledge, just as I grew with the program here.
