For attorneys, evaluators, and clinicians
Recognize the pattern accurately.
Coercive Control & The Liberty Crime
Training for attorneys, family court evaluators, and clinicians who need to identify and document coercive control accurately in legal decision-making and parenting time cases.
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The evolution of protection laws including the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) from its original enactment in 1994 to its most recent authorization in 2022, which included the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act, also known as “Kayden’s Law.”
This shift reframed family violence from a private incident-based matter to a matter of public health and safety, and a civil rights issue.
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The paradigm shift and the evolution from assault to a “liberty crime,” based upon components of coercive control as defined by Dr. Evan Stark and described by the Duluth Power & Control Wheel.
DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender), as defined by Dr. Jennifer Freyd, helps explain tactics used to shift responsibility in these cases.
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Decision-making frameworks based upon stages of change (readiness) and perception (forms of bias) affect individuals and systems, thus impacting change in the courtroom.
Systemic DARVO affects parties and children, leading to prolonged consequences.
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Neurobiology and clinical trauma responses affected by the autonomic nervous system, neuroception, and the window of tolerance influence the trauma-informed hierarchy of needs.
Intersectionality with gender, disability (C-PTSD, etc.), and risk to survivors and children, including ACE scores and their impact on outcomes and child development.
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A shift toward trauma-informed care, including evaluation using instruments like the DASH Risk checklist and the Intimate Partner Violence Impact Assessment (IPVIA), and accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Documentation strategies, ethical and legal responsibilities, and best practices from bodies such as the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ).
Clinical
Years of reading the medical record from the inside: what objective data looks like from sustained coercive control, where it hides in routine documentation, and how to surface it systematically.
Legal
Fluency in the frameworks that decide these cases, including the emerging “liberty crime” standard, so clinical evidence is framed in language courts recognize.
Field Experience
Nearly two decades alongside families navigating family court, which keeps this work grounded in what the record often fails to capture.
About Tess Harmon, MSN, RN
Tess Harmon is a registered nurse with more than ten years of clinical experience, a Master of Science in Nursing, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She is also a service-disabled U.S. military veteran.
For nearly two decades, she has worked alongside individuals and families navigating family court and studied the research on coercive control, trauma, and family court decision-making. She trains attorneys, evaluators, and clinicians to identify and document these patterns accurately.