Across the parking lot from a YMCA in Des Moines, about a dozen men sit on black plastic chairs in the basement of a former Catholic high school.

This is a court-ordered class for domestic abusers, part of a new statewide curriculum for batterer intervention in Iowa. According to police reports, one man here kicked his wife several times in the stomach. Another threw a lamp at his girlfriend's head.

Lucas Sampson - a man with the imposing appearance of a viking but the gentle demeanor of Mister Rogers - hands out pieces of ice. The men sit silently, holding the ice in their palms, for about three minutes.

Afterwards, Sampson asks the men what they felt while they were holding the ice. They offer up responses: "Burning." "Numbness." "Tingling." "Anger." "Anxiety." "Irritation." "Blame."

This 24-week course is called ACTV: Achieving Change Through Values-Based Behavior. It was created by domestic violence researcher Amie Zarling at Iowa State University. ACTV marks a big shift from the accountability-focused classes most states have used for decades.

[For more of this story by Sarah Boden, visit http://www.npr.org/2017/10/21/...amp;utm_content=2048]

Illustration caption: Iowa's new domestic violence intervention program, ACTV, aims to change abusers' behavior by teaching them emotional awareness.

Illustration credit: Chelsea Beck/NPR