support for male survivors of Domestic violence

A safe space for men who have experienced abuse to get help

Las Cruces, NM

You deserve a healthy relationship.

We’re here for you. If you’re in a toxic or codependent relationship, or if you are stuck in abusive patterns with your partner, it can be hard to get out. It can be even harder for men to get support for domestic violence. Our groups support you as you take the steps you are ready to take towards a healthier self that can have healthier relationships.

Affordable group classes

  • [Fridays 8:30am @ 424 N Main Las Cruces NM]

    This breath-centered flow is designed to prepare the mind and body to let go into a gentle somatic and myofascial release. Also known as Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE), this is designed to help you heal from trauma, chronic stress, and injury. You’ll also get a chance to experience the “group qi” of community acupuncture, with calming and grounding acupuncture points applied by Ryan Bemis, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, to support your integration and shavasana experience. All levels of experience in yoga and physical ability are welcome. Dr. Bemis will be available to offer you a free consult, as well, if you are interested in learning more about getting acupuncture.

  • 11 /3 @ 7pm Dwell Yoga 424 N Main

    11/5 @ 8pm Downtown Plaza Las Cruces

    At this election time in the USA, anxiety is high, and the growing fear of violence in our world can leave us isolated from community.  Crossroads Acupuncture in partnership with the Downtown Las Cruces Partnership and Dwell Yoga will offer this free community acupuncture for you to find your refuge amidst election anxiety, and for people to come together as a community and bring our focus of peace within, and around the world.  

    No matter who you vote for, we will offer this space free, no cost, for anyone that votes, plans to vote, or would like to vote.  Acupuncture is just optional, and you are welcome to come sit alongside us without receiving the acupuncture as well.  Treatments will be offered by Dr. Ryan Bemis alongside local acudetox community workers. We will offer a gentle placement of tiny needles around points on the body to help you find your inner calm and your grounded self, so you can leave more present during these chaotic times. 

    (NOTES:  If you don’t want the acupuncture, you can still come and join us for the meditation.  If you cannot vote, but would like to vote, you are welcome as well!).

  • 10/10 5pm MDT World Mental Health Day

    Tension and trauma can lurk deep within our muscles and nervous system muscles, and can contribute to our emotional highs and lows, or as some people experience them as “extreme states.”  This can look like pain, depression, anxiety, overthinking, hyperactivity, difficulty focusing, psychosis or altered and neurodivergent states.  

    How can we safely and gently learn from, work with, be with this big energy, and release old stories we cling to so we can be our most resilient self?  How can we hold space for ourselves as we move through “extreme” feelings of up and down, all the intense and subtle, sometimes even overwhelming energetic, mood and emotional states in between?  How can we transcend the labels, stories, and diagnoses that you have taken on from the western psychiatric system?

    At this new, online, workshop, Crossroads Acupuncture will celebrate World Mental Health Day during the month of October by offering this free for anyone who has struggled with mental illness.  You’ll learn how to allow your body to literally shake off past stories, trauma and help you rediscover yourself anew.   Facilitated by Ryan Bemis and Amabel Narvaez, you’ll be step-by-step instructions in Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE). We will conclude with an Ecstatic Dance, a free-form dance practice to empower you to express yourself through movement to the beat of soul-filled music.

    You’ll leave this workshop with new tools for you to safely co-regulate your nervous system through movement, breathing, and stillness on your own, on a regular basis.  Most people experience deep relaxation, feeling grounded, and increased mental clarity. 

    This special free online space will offer you a trauma-informed, non-judgmental space to take a step towards transcending the stigma of mental illness and taking a step towards mental wellness.  You may log in anonymously if you choose to do so, or keep your camera turned off during the exercises.

    This class will be offered online with a zoom link provided prior to the class.

Dr. Bemis explains our somatic release workshops in a short video

1 in 7 men

will experience abuse in a relationship

One of the most common myths about domestic violence is that men cannot be the victim. Regardless of the gender of the victim or abuser, domestic violence is the same.

  • Patterns of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship.

    It can take the form of physical violence, emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse.

  • Withholding approval or affection to punish you

    Criticizing, ridiculing, or yelling

    Taking away your car keys or money

    Threatening they will leave you or force you to leave

    Threatening to hurt you

    Depriving you from your children when angry at you

    Threatening to take the children and disappear if you leave

    Hurting your pets

    Harassing you about affairs they think you are having

    Manipulating you with lies and broken agreements

    Destroying furniture and breaking things in the house

    Waving a weapon in a threatening way

    Aggressive child transfers

    Hitting, kicking, shoving, or throwing things when upset

  • We acknowledge that men are far more often the perpetrators of domestic violence, are in a much less vulnerable position than women, and that there is not enough support for women survivors. We also believe that domestic violence happens within a cycle: Hurt people hurt people, and that this begins often in our childhood. Our focus is on helping men heal, so they can do their part to break the generational cycles, and show up as better partners, fathers, and men with a healthier masculine identity. If you are a woman in a situation of domestic violence in Las Cruces, we recommend contacting La Casa, or the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

But my partner never hit me…

Over 38 million men will suffer psychological aggression from an intimate partner at some point in their life (CDC). This is also domestic violence, and can cause serious depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We are here to support men in our community to break free from an abusive relationship, and recover from the lasting effects of trauma.

you can learn how to manage stress, anxiety and PTSD

You deserve healing. And you don’t have to remain a victim forever. But the Post Traumatic effects of domestic abuse can last a lifetime. Our groups offer activities like meditation, breathwork and acupuncture, to help you learn how to manage stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD. No matter what you are going through or have been through, your body, your brain, your spirit and your emotions can heal. In our group, we approach all healing with trauma-sensitivity.