This Sunday evening's "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" special guests will be Dorothy and Steven Halley from 8:00 to 9:00 PM CST.

Their over 25 years of professional life together will be discussed including the River of Cruelty model explaining how cruelty is passed from person to person and generation to generation.  This model helps expand the Adverse Childhood Experiences conversation.  Many other topics including their work with domestic violence and helping bring resiliency training into the schools will also be discussed.

Dorthy Stucky Halley, LMSW, has been Director of the Victim Services Division of the Office of Attorney General since this division’s inception in 2007. Dorthy has provided leadership for the state in its responses to both human trafficking and domestic violence. In 2010, Dorthy coordinated the development of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Advisory Board in Kansas. She continues to serve on this board and chairs the Victim Services Committee. Her development of a motivation typology for those who batter has opened the door to a new understanding for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, advocates, batterer intervention providers, and others in the domestic violence field. She led the state efforts to develop standards and certify batterer intervention programs throughout Kansas.

Halley has served victims in various capacities since 1986. She was the Executive Director of Safehouse, Inc. for over a decade, and previously served as a Crime Victim Compensation Board member. Her work with those who batter began in 1991 and led to her co-founding the Family Peace Initiative (FPI). Halley was the Practicum Director and Assistant Professor at Pittsburg State University in the Social Work Program from 1997 to 2007, before accepting her current position. She is the past president of the Kansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (KNASW), the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), and is currently serving her third term as president of the Kansas Organization for Victim Assistance (KOVA). She also serves as a consultant for the Kansas Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board (KDVFRB).

Halley received the Outstanding Victim Advocate of the Year award in 1996 from KCSDV.  She has served as an expert witness in domestic violence cases for the past 29 years. She is an author, and has provided international and domestic presentations to more than 25,000 advocates, criminal justice professionals, and others. Her latest published work is the chapter “Providing Effective Services to Victims of Human Trafficking: Theoretical, Practical, and Ethical Considerations” (Halley, Sullivan, and Rapp), in Combating Human Trafficking: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Palmiotto, CRC Press, 2014. Halley has served as a delegate to the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women for the International Public Policy Institute (2015, 2017, and 2018). Additionally, she co-presented “Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence: Intersections and Deviations” (2015) and “Addressing Violence against Rural and Indigenous Women-Challenges and Strategies” (2018) for the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women Conference. In addition to her work, Halley loves water skiing, traveling, and most of all, spending time with family. 

Steven M.S. Halley, LSCSW, is the clinical director of Halley Counseling Services, P.A. and the Director of the Family Peace Initiative (FPI). Having received a bachelor degree in history, and master degrees in both outdoor administration and social work, Halley focused his career on working with individuals and families. For the past 25 years Halley has worked as a wilderness counselor, probation officer, therapist, and batterer intervention provider. His success in understanding and working with those who batter has created high demand for his trainings and the FPI curriculum, which incorporates batterer motive and a trauma-informed approach. In 2016, Halley provided training to the National Association of Victim Service Professionals in Corrections at their national conference regarding his “River of Cruelty: A Trauma-Informed Approach”. In 2017, Halley served on the panel “Innovative Practices: Balancing Accountability and Support for Healing” for the Office of Violence Against Women. Halley serves on the Kansas Governor's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. He is an avid golfer, songwriter, and along with his wife, Dorthy, authored Halley’s Alley: Commentaries on marriage, family, healthy relationships, parenting, loss, grief, trauma, and domestic violence.

The "Breaking the Silence" radio program can be heard LIVE Sunday night at 8:00 pm Central Standard Time.  You can hear it by simply hitting this link:  https://www.bbsradio.com/breakingthesilence