REMEDY: Love as Liberation

Resilience ~ Embodiment ~ Mending ~ Equity ~ Dignity ~ You

Rutland Domestic Violence Programming’s REMEDY is a newly certified accountability program primarily for 2SLGBTQIA+ people who have caused harm in their intimate relationships, and secondarily for 2SLGBTQIA+ people who have caused harm to their household members. The 30-week virtual program supports participants through a process of developing and maintaining accountability as they transform their abusive values and belief systems and heal unresolved wounds of trauma.

• Adults who are over the age of 18 years old

• Those who have caused harm in their intimate relationships, or

• Those who believe they may cause harm to an intimate partner or household member

• Those who have identified harmful patterns,abusive values, cruel behaviors, or pro-abuse belief systems in themselves, and are willing to begin the healing and change process in a group setting

• Those who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, or are in an alternative relationship constellation 

• Optional: Those who are mandated to complete a domestic violence accountability program through Department of Corrections or Department of Children and Families

A few examples of who might be in this multi-gender and multi-sexual orientation group, include:

• A cisgender gay man

• A transwoman who identifies as heterosexual

• A woman who identifies as lesbian

• A polyamorous pansexual non-binary individual

• A person who is exploring their gender identity or sexual orientation outside of the gender binary heteronormative culture

*The Referral Process can be initiated by anyone – the survivor or victim or harmed party; a friend, family member, neighbor, co-worker or community member (community ally); or the person doing harm. We’ve categorized the framing of referrals to arrive from three places: self- referrals, community referrals, and formal system-based referrals.

Not living in Vermont? We have a limited number of cohort spots available to those living in other regions, across the U.S. If you are not a Vermont resident or provider, please reach out to see if there is availability. As of June 2026, there is availability.

WE ACCEPT POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS FROM 3 REFERRAL STREAMS:

Self-referrals:

• Adults who have identified they have or may cause harm, cruelty, violence, or abuse

Self-referrals: Reach out to Program Director, Bianca Zanella, at vermontremedy@gmail.com to schedule an initial phone conversation and subsequent intake interview. Please include in your email: your full name, phone number, and brief paragraph detailing your interest in the program, along with your availability for a phone call.

Informal/community referrals:

• LGBTQ+ Community Organizations, Providers, and Programs

• Migrant Justice

• The Spark

• A Call for Change

• Safe Space Anti-Violence Project  

• VT Housing providers

• VT Network Member Organizations

• Survivors, victims, harmed parties

• Faith communities 

Informal/Community Referrals: Optional to submit a universal referral form (link here). You may reach out to Program Director, Bianca Zanella, at vermontremedy@gmail.com with information regarding a potential participant. Include in your email: the participants’ full name, phone number, email address, and brief paragraph detailing the situation and any safety concerns, along with your involvement.

Formal referrals:

• Healthcare workers

  • Therapists & Counsellors

  • Substance Use Treatment Providers

  • Primary Care Providers

  • Planned Parenthood

• Dept. of Corrections

  • Facilities

  • Probation

  • Parole

• Legal / Court

  • State’s Attorney

  • Relief From Abuse cases

  • Public Defender’s office 

  • Lethality Assessment Program

• Dept. of Children & Families

• Restorative Justice Centers or Community Justice Centers

• Other VT DVAP providers: the VT Coalition (or outside of VT, other DVAP providers)

• VT Universities and Campuses

  • Title IX Coordinators / Wellness Directors 

Formal referrals: Please CLICK HERE to access our Universal Referral Form, which you may email to Bianca Zanella at vermontremedy@gmail.com, along with the required materials attached.

• Complete an intake orientation, pre-survey, and post-survey

• Attend minimally 30 groups, in which each group is 2 hours once a week, held online (closed captioning available)

• Understand the community accountability model and thus participate in a peer network, encouraging group participants, including facilitators, to uphold the collective care model

• Be a life-long learner; recognize that the work of this program does not end with the program, and will commit to re-committing to cruel-free living if/when harmful behaviors reoccur

• Practice during the week in between groups and complete assignments that may include activities such as mindfulness, meditation, breathing and somatic exercises, journaling, writing, and discussion with classmates in response to poetry, stories, prompts, or quotes

• Check in with lived experience and check out with gratitude each week as part of the group process

• Be in a quiet secluded space with good internet connection and have one’s camera on

• Be in a space designed for multiple gender, sexual, and social identities (2SLGBTQIA+) to learn and grow from each other in a vulnerable and supportive manner

• Be accountable and take responsibility for the specific harm one has caused as well as take responsibility for the healing from the cruelty and trauma wounds one has experienced

• Describe the impact and effects of the harm one has caused on intimate partners, children and other family and community members, and themselves

• Identify and clarify your core values

• Practice noticing when your behaviors are out of alignment with your core values and take steps to change those behaviors

• Practice individual and collective responsibility by asking, and reflecting on, difficult questions of oneself and others

• Practice one’s emotional regulation, cognitive, healthy relationship and behavioral skills

• Be received without judgment or shame; be received with and give kindness and compassion

• Navigate conflict in a healthy manner that repairs rupture and moves toward reconnection

• Practice one’s willingness to let go of control, feel one’s emotions, make mistakes

• Begin to restore balance to one’s nervous system, release stored trauma/cruelty, and integrate practices that support lasting healing, resilience, and personal growth