Elizabeth A. Fabiano

Elizabeth A. Fabiano, MCA, a professional criminologist and cognitive behavioural therapist, is known internationally for her work in developing and implementing successful programmes for rehabilitating male, female and juvenile offenders.  She has also developed and implemented cognitive motivational programmes for use with vocational rehabilitation clients, mental health clients and clients on income support and social assistance. She has also developed programmes and services for client in work recovery including those dealing with high pain management.  In this work Ms Fabiano has trained numerous correctional practitioners, social workers, psychologists, and addressed scores of audiences across North America, and abroad.  Currently, Ms. Fabiano is a senior partner in an Ottawa-based correctional consulting firm, T3 Associates Training and Consulting, Inc., and Executive Director of P.N.A. Change consultants Inc.

Ms. Fabiano holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology (Honours) from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and a Masters degree in Applied Criminology from the University of Ottawa.  Following her formal studies Elizabeth began a consulting career in which she assisted the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services in the area of programme development.  She provided direction on programmes for both probation and custodial operations within Ontario correctional services.  During this time she co-developed a programme for offenders, Reasoning and Rehabilitation.  The programme, a curriculum for criminal offenders, represented a major breakthrough in the treatment of this difficult to reach population.

Following this, for 10 years Ms. Fabiano was the Manager, Programme Development and Implementation for the Correctional Service of Canada.  As a manager with the federal correctional service, she developed and introduced a number of programmes for offenders including the well-known “cognitive skills” programme [Reasoning & Rehabilitation].  Included among the programmes which she set in place were parenting skills courses, substance abuse treatments, and programmes aimed at preventing family violence.

During her tenure with Correctional Service Canada Ms. Fabiano helped reshape the direction of programmes for offenders across the Canadian federal correctional system.  She received a Governor General Management Merit award in recognition of her outstanding contributions.

Ms. Fabiano is a highly talented trainer who creates enthusiasm about her work wherever she travels.  Ms. Fabiano’s work has focused on the development of “cognitive skills” – the thinking and reasoning skills people need to make good decisions and live successful lives and “motivation” – the desire and need to want to change. The cognitive approach provides individuals with a range of thinking skills and helps them develop new styles of interacting with other people.  They learn to use reasoning before acting impulsively and to consider the consequences of their behaviour for themselves and others.

In recent years Ms. Fabiano’s programme development work has expanded into the arena of employability where she has developed curricula for front-line staff providing services to unemployed youth and adults.  As a certified member of the international network of Motivational Interviewing Trainers [MINT], Ms Fabiano has used a number of motivational enhancement concepts in her work to develop counseling training and programme content that will help vocational counselors and other social service professionals work with poorly motivated and multi-barriered clients.

The Cognitive Motivational Tools for Negotiating Behavior Change – a 3 day skills training programme has been implemented by numerous employment agencies and departments of Vocational Rehabilitation in Canada, the U.S and Europe.  Ms Fabiano has also developed and implemented a series of motivational enhancement programmes for use with a number of different client groups. Examples include the Contemplating Change Program (for Vocational Rehabilitation clients); Ready, Set, Go: Moving Towards Employment (for mental health clients) and the  N.O.W. -New Outlook for Women: Preparing for Change programme (for women on social assistance).

Ms Fabiano provides extensive training workshops and consulting services in many countries [i.e., England, Wales, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore] and throughout Canada and the United States.

Ms. Fabiano has co-authored many scholarly monographs, book chapters and journal articles in the area of effective correctional treatments, motivational programming and motivational case management.  In addition, she has two co-authored books to her credit, ‘Time to Think: A Cognitive Model of Delinquency Prevention and Offender Rehabilitation’, and ‘Correctional Afterthoughts: Programs for Female Offenders’.