About

John Hamel, Ph.D., LCSW, has a Masters degree in Social Welfare from U.C.L.A., and a Ph.D. from the University of Central Lancashire, U.K. He has provided case consultation and expert witness testimony for over 20 years; has interviewed and provided individual, couples and group counseling to hundreds of family violence perpetrators and victims since 1992; and is a court-approved provider of batterer intervention and parent programs in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Dr. Hamel regularly speaks at conferences on domestic violence, has provided education and clinical training on best practices to mental health professionals, victim advocates social service organizations, law enforcement, attorneys and family court mediators.  He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the National Organization of Forensic Social Work, and founded the Association of Domestic Violence Intervention Programs (ADVIP), an organization of mental health professionals and researchers dedicated to evidence-based practice (www.domesticviolenceintervention.net).

Skill Set
In this work, Dr. Hamel brings together a unique set of experiences and knowledge lacking among most family violence experts (for example, those limited to victim advocacy or law enforcement experience), that combines: (1) more than 30 years of clinical experience working with domestic violence victims and their families, (2) conducting treatment programs for court-mandated perpetrators, (3) training other professionals in best intervention practices, and (4) having published 50 + books, book chapters and peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles over a period of 20 years, much of it based on original research on the prevalence, causes, dynamics, consequences, assessment, and treatment of domestic violence.  Has worked with the prosecution and the defense, and with attorneys representing both male and female defendants, alleged victims as well as alleged perpetrators.

Forensic consultations, assessments, reports and conclusions are anchored in established best practice standards and informed by decades of forensic, clinical and research expertise.  Broad knowledge base, including the complexities and nuances of domestic violence dynamics and the limitations that myth and misinformation have on current laws and policies, allow Dr. Hamel to share with attorneys valuable insights with which to formulate a successful litigation strategy.

Publications

Dr. Hamel is the author of Gender-Inclusive Treatment of Intimate Partner Abuse, 2^nd Edition:  Evidence-Based Approaches, (Springer, 2014); co-editor with Tonia Nicholls, PhD, of Family Interventions in Domestic Violence: A Handbook of Gender-Inclusive Theory and Treatment (Springer, 2007); and editor of Intimate Partner and Family Abuse:  A Casebook of Gender Inclusive Therapy (Springer, 2008) as well as the more recent book,  Gender and Domestic Violence (Oxford University Press, 2022).  He is Editor-in-Chief of Partner Abuse, a journal published quarterly by Springer Publishing, and  has had dozens of his research articles published in various peer-reviewed scholarly journals, including:  Aggression and Violent Behavior, Family Violence and Sexual Abuse Bulletin, Journal of Aggression, Conflict, & Peace Research, Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Journal of Child Custody, Journal of Criminological Research Policy, and Practice, Journal of Family Violence, and Violence and Victims.

Attorneys working with criminal, family law, and other cases involving domestic violence allegations, may want to click on the following links to selected chapters from Gender and Domestic Violence:  Contemporary Legal Practice and Intervention Reforms:

Introduction

Intimate Partner Homicides and the Battered Person Syndrome

Custody and Intervention Recommendations in Family Law Cases