CCChat-Magazine_Issue-25-The-Further-Learning-Issue

We are always in demand and, with
Covid, we have had a waiting list,
which I really hate having. So, apart
from the perpetrator programme we
also provide a You Me and Mum
programme, which is a programme
that Women’s Aid in Northern Ireland
developed some years ago and it’s a
10-week programme for mums to
support mums in what they are going
through and also supports them in
managing their children’s trauma as
well as supporting themselves in
making safer decisions whether it’s to
leave or to stay and it’s a great way for
women to share in a group. We work
with children of the mums who attend
the YMM programme.
your training as a counsellor and so
then counsellors go off and aren’t
really sure what to do sometimes. We
also run a general low cost counselling
service for people in the area, although
we are doing all of our work, at the
moment, via zoom or skype and our
low cost clients contact us and we
speak to them about what they can
afford – it can be as little as £5 a
session. In the London areas,
counselling can be hugely expensive, it
can start from £60 to £150 a session
and that service is very well used as
well.
M: I had no idea you did all this and
that you had so many volunteer
“I think it’s really important, if we are doing specialist domestic violence
training that our counsellors know what they are doing because there is
very little training on domestic abuse when you are doing your training."
We also provide, as a separate, training
around domestic abuse so all of our
counsellors and volunteers are trained
before they start working with us. They
have to have 8 sessions of training –
what is domestic abuse? Introduction
to working with perpetrators even
though we don’t counsel perpetrators,
they also get four sessions of working
with women who have suffered from
domestic abuse and working with male
victims. The ongoing training can
include mindfulness for professionals
and whatever else comes up, trauma
that kind of thing, so counsellors are
all trained before they are able to work
with our clients. I think it’s really
important, if we are doing specialist
domestic violence training that our
counsellors know what they are doing
because there is very little training on
domestic abuse when you are doing
counsellors. That's really quite
amazing.
N: Yes, it’s really good. Obviously
counsellors are always looking for
placements but it’s no easy placement,
counselling survivors and men and
women who are still living with their
perpetrator, it’s really hard going and
I’m really proud of my counsellors,
they are amazing.
M: I’m interested to hear about the
work you are doing with female
perpetrators and how that came
about.
N: when I worked for DVIP in London
we had some women attend the service
who had used intimate partner
violence and abuse and when I moved
to Respect, I was on the phone lines for
Making The Invisible Visible