Instructor Name: Liam Ennis, Ph.D. & Katie Gotch, LPC, CCSOT
Instructor Email Address: [email protected]

Date and Time:
Friday, May 8, 2026, 11:00am – 3:30pm Eastern Time (EDT: UTC – 4:00)
(4 hours total training)

Cost: $200 CAD
Discount for SAARNA Affiliates: $40 –> You Pay $160 (See NOTE below.)
Discount for students: $120 –> You pay $80 (Please complete this form for approval as a student participant.)

(NOTE: You MUST log into your account to register and get the discount at checkout. If you are joining SAARNA for the discount, please register as an Affiliate or User and then wait until your SAARNA account is activated before registering for this event. You will receive one email with a receipt for your SAARNA Affiliate registration and then a 2nd email when your account is manually approved and activated. Please wait for this 2nd email before registering for this event.)

Description of Event:
The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) is an actuarial risk assessment tool used to assess the likelihood of adults with a history of assaulting an intimate partner re-offending in the future. The ODARA consists of 13 items that assess factors such as criminal history, substance abuse, and barriers to accessing community supports, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of re-offense risk. It is designed to be used by police, victim services, health care, and correctional agencies as well as professionals such as psychologists and others who conduct risk assessments and provide treatment planning for domestic violence programs.

In this session, participants will learn about the development, scoring, and interpretation of the ODARA. This includes an overview of the validation and related research for the ODARA, as well as the applicability of the ODARA for assessment of risk for future intimate partner violence (IPV) recidivism in men and women with a history of physical IPV offending. Appropriate risk communication methods for the ODARA will be discussed, as well as its use within criminal justice and victim service settings. Participants will also learn the prorating technique for ambiguous information. This didactic training includes interactive elements, allowing participants to engage in quizzes and scoring vignettes during the session. There is also opportunity for post-training certification.

Electronic versions of training materials (handouts including scoring criteria) will be made available to participants by email shortly prior to the start of the training. The full ODARA scoring manual is available in the book, Domestic Violence Risk Assessment 2^nd edition (Hilton, 2021) or downloadable from the publisher at https://psycnet.apa.org/PsycBOOKS/toc/17188  (see chapter “Scoring manual for the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment,” pp. 145-166, select Get Access to check for free access through your institution or purchase PDF for $17.95 USD at that link).

Liam Ennis, Ph.D.
Dr. Ennis is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta, and a private risk management consultant in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he is a clinical supervisor in the Forensic Psychiatry Residency Program. He is a registered psychologist with 25 years of experience in the field of violence risk assessment and management. He has worked in inpatient and outpatient forensic mental health, for Correctional Service of Canada, and for Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), where he provided training and case consultation to police threat assessors responsible for high-risk domestic violence cases. Dr. Ennis was privileged to be a member of the Optimizing Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence (ORA-DV) research group, which investigated the validity of a range of risk assessment instruments, including ODARA, and is proud to serve on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Threat Assessment and Management.

Katie Gotch, LPC, CCSOT
Ms. Gotch has worked in the field of sexual abuse prevention for over twenty-five years as a clinician, evaluator, trainer, researcher, and in the development of evidence-informed public policy. She currently maintains a private practice, Integrated Clinical & Correctional Services, which provides specialized clinical and consultation services related to individuals with sexual behavior problems and other forms of abusive/violent behavior. She frequently provides training to correctional agencies, clinicians, policy makers, and other community partners on sexual abuse specific assessment, management and treatment; static and dynamic risk; public policy; public/media engagement; and related topics. She has been a certified Static-99R, STABLE-2007 & ACUTE-2007 trainer for over fifteen years and recently obtained local certification as an ODARA trainer. She additionally has a lengthy history of public policy and board involvement, previously serving as the Public Policy Executive Board Member for ATSA, as a Board Member and Voluntary Executive Director for NPEIV, and as the Policy Advisor for OATSA.

Prerequisites:
Individuals are most likely to benefit from this training if they have some knowledge of individuals who commit intimate partner violence. The training assumes basic familiarity with the criminal justice system.

Notes for Participants:
Training delivered via Zoom (4 hours total)

Maximum number of seats: 20

Note: Please sign up using the email address of the person ATTENDING the talk so they can receive important announcements (e.g., Zoom link, training materials).

Electronic versions of training materials (scoring manuals, exercises, etc.) will be made available to participants by email shortly prior to the start of the training.