Violence and Abuse Responsive Care

There are many intersecting forms of violence and abuse; they include physical, verbal, financial, social, spiritual, sexual to name a few. Regardless of the ’type’ of abuse, and whether it be overt or a more subtle covert form of abuse, the underpinning territory is the same. It is about the use of power and coercive control to hold emotional and psychological domination over another that leaves that person feeling fearful, weary, confused, hypervigilant. It strips away choice, agency, safety, trust. It is a process of entrapment that can, in the subtlest of ways, erode a person’s sense of competent, stable, and secure self.¹ The legacy of violence and abuse is complex and far reaching. It touches not only the person who suffers the violation directly but also those who are exposed to it, typically the children.² I have long standing experience working systemically in this area with intimate partner violence, elder abuse, child abuse; and with those who inflict, those who endure and those who witness. It is in this space that I have come to know firsthand that behavioural change is possible, hope is recoverable, and healing is possible. I have borne witness to the courage it takes to step forward out of the shadows of dread, despondency, despair and maybe even shame. I have a close understanding of the complexity of this nuanced territory. In our space together, we will collaborate and hold alive the hope to reclaim your best version of who you are.

¹ Hill, J (2019) See What You Made Me Do: Power Control and Domestic Violence

² http://www.crimeprevention.nsw.gov.au/domesticviolence/Documents/Mini/agj_domestic_violence_practice_guide_final_consolidated_sec.pdf