The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is a training program enabling participants to deal with potentially violent situations in new and creative ways. AVP workshops are team efforts, based on proven exercises and dynamic group interaction. AVP does not tell people how to respond to conflict situations, it enables them to find and build on their own best resources and solutions.

AVP Tampa Bay provides trained facilitators and materials for workshops for school, church, and corporate groups and in State and Federal prisons. We also train and certify facilitators in the community and within the prison system. AVP Facilitators and Council participants are unpaid volunteers, and our program fees (requested donations) are to cover workshop costs only.

AVP workshops use the shared experience of participants, interactive exercises, games and role-plays to examine the ways in which we respond to situations where injustice, prejudice, frustration and anger can lead to aggressive behaviour and violence.

An AVP workshop can help you to:

  • manage strong feelings such as anger and fear
  • deal more effectively with risk and danger
  • build good relationships with other people
  • communicate well in difficult situations
  • recognise the skills you already have and learn new ones
  • be true to yourself while respecting other people
  • understand why conflict happens

AVP started in prisons in the USA in 1975, and now also operates in communities, schools, colleges and conflict situations worldwide.