Workshops & Training
Awareness Matters deliver a variety of workshops on gender based violence and abuse, more commonly known as domestic abuse. All workshops will be delivered online during the COVID19 period of social distancing.
The aim of each workshop and training is to support practitioners from a wide range of agencies to respond more appropriately and effectively so we can support all those affected by domestic abuse related issues. All workshops and trainings are delivered integrating group discussion, interactive exercises, use of dvds and powerpoint.
Whether you are a front line practitioner working with victims and survivors, a team leader or service manager our training is delivered in an accessible way ensuring a full opportunity for learning, discussion, strategies and tools to support best practice.
Awareness Matters delivers both inhouse and multi-agency workshops and trainings to both statutory and voluntary agencies and are able to offer bespoke training to meet your agenices needs. At this time we are delivering in-house or multi-agency workshops and training online.
Cathy is a highly experienced trainer having facilitated workshops and training in domestic violence and abuse related issues for 18 years training practioners from: CYP services, LAC, housing, police, health services, menatal health, schools, counselors & therapists, foster carers, adoption teams and adoptive parents, social workers, troubled family initiative, youth offending, CSE teams, youth provisions, Brooke Advisory, CAB, IDVA/ISVA teams, Safeguarding Advisors, learning centres, children’s residential care, community development, community safety, parenting teams, Volunteer Matters and specific domestic abuse agencies. Cathy is also a Women’s Aid Associate trainer.
Agencies that have commissioned our in-house training previously include: Suffolk County Council, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Women’s Aid, Barnardos, Relate, Southend on Sea Borough Council, Milton Keynes Council, Central Beds Council, Bournemouth Borough Council, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Fegans, ISP Milton Keynes, London Probation Trust, RISE Mutual CIC, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Lighthouse Women’s Aid, Southend Women’s Aid, the Kernos Centre and as part of a DAPHNE funded project providing the first domestic abuse training in Romania.
Facilitator Training
Escape The Trap Facilitator Training
Become a Facilitator
If you are working with young people, recognise the emerging levels of abuse they can experience in their early relationships and want to take a pro-active approach to addressing the issue and support those you work with then Escape the Trap is for you.
During the three day CPD Accredited training facilitators will learn how to run this programme, exploring ways to address the difficult and sensitive issue of teenage relationship abuse in an interactive way using experiential activities and self-reflection.
The programme is also accessible to use one to one with the accompanying Escape the Trap workbook.
Practitioners are training to become facilitators across the UK and represent a wide range of agencies including: school pastoral & learning mentors, school nurses, pupil referral unit’s, youth offending, youth services, children & young people’s services, specialist domestic abuse services, Brook Advisory, community safety, behaviour consultants, counsellors, scout leaders, police, IDSVA’s & YDVA’s.
Training Outline
Escape the Trap facilitator training will support practioners to learn about the:
- Concept & structure of the programme
- Group agreements
- Exploring one’s own thinking and understanding about teenage relationship abuse
- Additonal Risk Factors
- Generating discussion with young people
- Develop ways to address the difficult and sensitive issue of teenage relationship abuse using experiential activities and self-reflection
- Understanding prevalance of social media abuse
- Working flexibly to meet the needs of your group
- Safety planning with young people
- Monitoring Risk
- Applying the programme in one to one work
- The Escape the Trap facilitator training event provides an intensive learning experience over three days.
Over the three-day facilitator training, practitioners will gain an understanding of the complex dynamics of teenage relationship abuse. Each week of the programme will be explored in depth so practitioners will feel confident and equipped to deliver it at the end of the training.
All practitioners must have completed recognised safeguarding training.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Testimonials
Who’s in Charge? Facilitator Training
Three-day Facilitator Training.
Overall Aims of the Nine Week Programme
- Reduce parent’s feelings of isolation.
- Challenge parent’s feelings of guilt.
- Lessen deterministic thinking about causes (e.g. “he can’t help it.. he has ADHD” or “… he saw his father be violent”) – it is always multi-causal.
- Reinforce belief in possibility of change (without giving false hope or creating complacency).
- Clarify boundaries of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour (harder than it sounds as there are many grey areas and we need to avoid imposing our own values).
- Arm parents with some simple concepts that have proved empowering: e.g. entitlement, the power of being irresponsible, etc.
- Examine strategies for creating meaningful and practical consequences for unacceptable behaviour. The approach of most parenting courses and materials is to assume that children are basically cooperative and only need encouragement and positivity to be good. These approaches usually have failed miserably with the oppositional children of the WiC? parents. Finding consequences for children who care about little and don’t want to cooperate is very difficult.
- Explore anger, both children’s and (often more usefully) parents’
- Encourage assertiveness
- Encourage self-care
- Reinforce progress and provide emotional support while parents are attempting to become more assertive parents.
Goals:
- It is expected that parents will feel less depressed and powerless by the end of the course (evaluation of those who complete the course strongly supports this at two month follow up).
- It is hoped that the amount of violence and abusive behaviour will decrease in a majority of the families and the majority of group completers do report less abuse (but this depends on many variables that are out of our control and change in children’s behaviour may be a long term consequence of changes in parental behaviour). The majority of parents (about 66%) do report an improvement in their problem child’s abusive behaviour at 2-month follow-up. However, most are still experiencing some verbal abuse and yelling. Changing parents behaviour is part of a long process of change for many.
- Raise awareness of the issue of violence to parents in the community and in the field.
Child on Parent Violence Talk Radio Interview – 7 August 2019
WIC? Facilitator Training
For further information on our three day training in the Who’s in Charge? programme please click the WIC? Training Booking Form at the top of the page.
Also look at our Child to Parent Violence One Day Workshop.
For further information on this training, please contact Cathy directly via the Contact page.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Testimonials
Workshops and Training
Child to Parent Violence & Abuse
CPV has emerged significantly as an issue for families in the UK over the past five years. The research on this neglected form of family violence is confusing and often contradictory and there is little practical information available. Through this one day workshop we are keen to raise the profile and inform practitioners of the context of CPV in the UK, enabling them to identify and support parents who are battling with CPV.
The workshop is specifically aimed at practitioners working with families where children are being abusive towards their parents or who are completely out of control. The learning is based on our own experince of working with families and working with Eddie Gallagher (founder of the Who’s in Charge? programme). Practitioners who have attended our workshops come from: domestic abuse agencies, probation, youth offending, health, therapeutic services, legal services, Citizens Advice Bureaus, education, community groups, housing, police, social services, early help teams, youth services, adoption & fostering services.
Benefits of attending:
- To increase understanding of the reasons that CPV can happen
- Dispel the myths surrounding CPV
- Explore approaches to working with parents experiencing CPV
- Tips & Tools to support parents
Issues to be explored:
- Introduction to CPV including national context
- an overview of the Who’s in Charge? approach
- How to identify CPV as opposed to other forms of familial abuse
- How to discuss CPV in the face of shame & embarrassment
- Impact of differing parenting styles for parents of uncooperative children
- Supporting parents to develop creative consequences
- Empowerment of parents
This approach aims to:
- Reduce parental guilt, build hope and get parents past “we’ve tried everything!”
- Explore realistic consequences for non-cooperative kids
- Encourage improved engagement between parent & child/adolescent
The workshop uses PowerPoint, group discussion, videos and exercises.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
For more information contact:
Cathy Press [email protected]
Cathy Press [email protected]
Carole Williams [email protected]
Please visit our Who’s in Charge? page to learn more about the programme and how to further support parents.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Children & Domestic Abuse – A Shift in Approach
One Day Workshop
The workshop aims to promote better outcomes for children and young people who have/are living with domestic abuse and to raise awareness of their needs and views to enable practitioners to develop responsive interventions that consider:
- the effects on children and young people of living with domestic violence & abuse
- how domestic abuse can be recognised through the responses and behaviour of children and young people
- how children and young people make sense of their experiences of domestic abuse
- the coping strategies they may use
- resilience
- practical and therapeutic approaches that involve and build on children’s and young peoples own understanding
The workshop will include the use of a powerpoint, presentation, DVD, case studies, group discussion and self-reflection.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the training, which can be used for future reference.
The workshop is appropriate for multi-agency practitioners, including those working for statutory and voluntary sector organisations that have a sound working knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse and may work directly or indirectly with children and their families. The workshop underpins safeguarding procedures.
Participants will be expected to have completed some domestic abuse training prior to attending.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Domestic Abuse, Complex Trauma & the Impact on Mental Health
One Day Workshop
This trauma informed workshop gives participants the opportunity to understand the nature and effects of domestic violence on a person’s emotional and mental health. It identifies the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and looks at how the effects of domestic violence and abuse and Complex Trauma impact the mental health of victims/survivors, but may never be recognised as such.
The workshop also aims to offer support to practitioners when working with those living with or impacted by domestic violence and abuse. It introduces risk assessment tools and how to assist a client in making a safety/crisis plan within the counselling session, without compromising the counselling process.
This workshop is useful for multi-agency practitioners as well as counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling supervisors, health professionals and those working with victims/survivors of domestic violence & abuse wishing to take a trauma informed, holistic approach.
The workshop will include the use of a powerpoint, presentation, DVD, case studies, group discussion and self-reflection.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the training, which can be used for future reference.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Domestic Violence & Abuse and Coercive Control
One Day Workshop
The workshop provides the opportunity for participants to:
- increase their knowledge base of domestic violence and abuse and its complex nature
- explores coercive control
- challenge the myths, stereotypes and social tolerance of domestic violence and abuse
- understand and define the full spectrum of domestic violence & abuse and abusive behaviours
- build an understanding of the experiences of victims affected by intimate relationship and community abuse
- to consider the cycle of abuse, a ‘victim’s journey’ and the reasons why victims stay in abusive relationships
- consider the impact of domestic violence and abuse and what needs to be in place to leave an abusive relationship
The workshop aims to give participants a sound working knowledge of domestic & sexual violence & abuse and coercive control, and will emphasize the importance of inter-agency collaboration in responding to the needs of victims. The workshop will include the use of a powerpoint, presentation, DVD, case studies, group discussion and self-reflection.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the training, which can be used for future reference.
This workshop will be useful to anyone who wishes to extend their knowledge and understanding on the dynamics of domestic violence and abuse. Appropriate for practitioners and professionals including those working for voluntary organisations whose role involves working with/supporting women, children and families. Participants who have previously attended, range from Health, Social Services, CYP Services, Children’s Services, Youth Offending & Probation, Housing, Police & legal professionals, Women’s Aid, Counsellors & specific Domestic Abuse Services.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
DV & the Impact of Trauma, Traumatic Transference, Boundaries & Self Care
One Day Workshop
This trauma informed workshop is particularly suited to teams of staff and/or volunteers working directly in agencies with client groups who are particularly vulnerable and where trauma is a consistent theme in the nature of the work delivered.
Participants will:
- explore domestic abuse and the impact of trauma on victims
- identify what motivates us to work and respond in the particular way that we do
- explore the nature of projection, transference and counter-transference within a traumatic context
- reflect on vicarious trauma: trauma that service users present and the traumatic transference that can occur
- consider what happens to us when we make referrals in respect of our own experience within the context of the situation
- consider boundaries and resistance
- self-care
This workshop is useful for multi-agency practitioners as well as counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling supervisors, health professionals and those working with victims/survivors of domestic violence & abuse wishing to use a trauma informed, holistic and therapeutic approach.
The workshop will include the use of a powerpoint presentation, DVD, group discussion and self-reflection. The learning exercises will be experiential, interactive and self-reflective.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the workshop, which can be used for future reference.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
DV Risk Assessment, MARAC & Safety Planning
One Day Workshop
To enable front line practitioners to respond appropriately to victims of domestic, sexual and honour based abuse by increasing their knowledge about effective and safe interventions, to encourage disclosure, identify high and lower risk cases using risk assessment and the MARAC process, understand the risk poised by domestic violence abusers/perpetrators and completing safety planning with victims at all levels of risk.
The course brings together multi-agency risk assessment conferencing (MARAC) and safety planning and supports the adoption of a common DASH risk assessment that can be used by all agencies. It is focused to improve coordination between a range of protective interventions that can used by practioners and professionals. It promotes working in an inter-agency environment to respond to victims of domestic and honour based abuse, in order to encourage an effective, focussed and consistent response to those living with domestic violence and abuse.
The course is appropriate for practitioners and professionals including those working for voluntary organisations whose role involves working with/supporting women, children and families. Participants who have previously attended, range from Health, Social Services, CYP Services, Children’s Services, Youth Offending & Probation, Housing, Police & legal professionals, Women’s Aid, Counsellors & specific Domestic Abuse Services.
As this course focuses on risk and protective interventions, applicants should have as a minimum, attended both domestic a violence & abuse awareness training and safeguarding training.
The workshop will include the use of a powerpoint, presentation, DVD, case studies, group discussion and self-reflection.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the training, which can be used for future reference.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
So Called ‘Honour Based Abuse’, Forced Marriage & FGM
Includes the half day above, but extends to address ‘honour’ based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation and its prevalence. Participants will be encouraged to:
- explore the complexities and dynamics of abusive relationships in relation to honour related abuse and its impact on victims and children
- challenge the common myths, stereotypes and social tolerance of domestic and sexual abuse and those associated with honour’ based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation
- identify practice issues and cultural sensitivity/community beliefs to enable effective support of victims in responding to the threat, harm and risk of abuse
This workshop uses group exercises and dvd materials to enhance learning and awareness raising.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.
Teenage Relationship Abuse – Working with Young People in Abusive Relationships
The aims of this workshop are:
- To increase awareness of the problem of violence and abuse in teen relationships and enable practitioners to offer supportive interventions.
- To inform professional judgement in relation to young people, help to identify suitable cases to be reviewed at a MARAC and inform referrals to Children and Young People Services (CYPS).
The workshop will provide participants with information to promote better understanding of forms of abuse that affect young people including coercive, controlling and grooming behaviours and other sustained abusive activities that are increasingly prevalent in teen relationships. Through discussion and exercises the course will consider:
- Who may be at risk of teenage relationship abuse and their age-range
- If there are similarities between adult and teenage relationship abuse
- How to begin a risk assessment process with a young person being harmed within a relationship
- How to work with young people who may be experiencing a broad spectrum of emotions and feelings, encompassing low self-esteem, low self-worth and confusion
By the end of the course participants will have had the opportunity to:
- Develop a deeper insight into the components and dynamics of abuse experienced in young and/or teenage relationships
- Further understanding of the added risk factors compounding this complex issue identifying differences between teenage and adult domestic abuse
- Explore use of Young Person’s Risk Indicator Checklist for MARAC, in alignment with safeguarding, as well safety planning and how to engage young people in this process
The course is appropriate for practitioners and professionals including those working for voluntary organisations whose role involves working with/supporting women, children and families. Participants who have previously attended, range from Health, Social Services, CYP Services, Children’s Services, Youth Offending & Probation, Housing, Police & legal professionals, Women’s Aid, Counsellors & specific Domestic Abuse Services.
The workshop will include the use of a PowerPoint presentation, DVD, case studies, group discussion and self-reflection.
Each participant will receive a comprehensive pack with notes to accompany the training, which can be used for future reference.
This workshop can also be provided in-house.
Please see our Events page for forthcoming dates.