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Coercive Control, Physical and Sexual Violence in Intimate Relationships: Understanding the Spectrum of Domestic Abuse: Video Course

Seminar

Speaker: Christiane Sanderson

Product: Video Course
Price: $239

CPD Hours: 5

Video course packs, including all notes are available immediately on booking. The access links are part of your ticket. Online video access remains available for 1 year from the date you receive the video course.

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While much of the clinical literature focuses on physical violence in domestic abuse (DA), it is now well evidenced that more subtle and covert forms of abuse are widely prevalent. These can include a range of physical, sexual, financial, spiritual and revenge porn driven behaviours in which power and control is used to coerce and emotionally abuse partners in intimate relationships.

All of our course times are shown for Melbourne / Sydney so check what time this course will be on in your time zone using the time zone checker.

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Full Course Information

This workshop, which would be especially relevant for psychotherapists, counsellors and psychologists aims to enhance our comprehension of the spectrum of DA, its impact and long-term effects on survivors. Our goal at this workshop is to examine how, as practitioners, we can work effectively using the principles of the Power Threat Meaning Framework and Trauma Informed Practice, psychoeducation and stabilisation to restore control and to allow for the processing of the DA narrative.

To understand the spectrum of DA, the workshop will look at small, subtle yet incremental forms of coercive and controlling behaviour such as love bombing, gaslighting, thought control, deception, and lying – which are used to distort reality and gain control over the partner, making it hard to legitimise the abuse. The focus will be on the dynamics of coercive, controlling and emotional abuse and how the use of blame, shame and humiliation silences those who are being domestically abused.

The workshop will also explore:

  • How these more subtle forms of abuse can precede a range of domestically abusive behaviours with a view to identifying those most at risk of DA
  • The processes involved in DA such as grooming victims, the cycle of abuse, the role of dissociation and thought blindness that supports the trauma bond which binds the couple
  • The role of attachment and fear of abandonment that underpins much of DA and how this manifests relationally, both for the couple and practitioners working with DA
  • The importance of the therapeutic relationship in restoring relational worth, mitigating the de-humanising effects of DA and restoring autonomy and self-agency

By identifying the challenges of working with DA and introducing a range of therapeutic skills, practitioners will feel more equipped when working with survivors of DA and will enhance their comprehension of the transformative effects of post traumatic growth for both clients and ourselves.

Our learning objectives at this workshop are:

  • The nature and dynamics of DA, such as the role of charm and love bombing, gaslighting and deception used to entice victims
  • The nature of coercive and controlling behaviour, the use of thought control and thought blindness to distort reality that facilitates the trauma bond and the role of silence, secrecy and shame
  • The intergenerational transmission of DA through attachment and relational deficits
  • The characteristics of male and female perpetrators
  • DA as complex trauma and its psychobiological impact
  • The long-term effects of DA on partners and children
  • Obstacles to leaving an abusive relationship
  • The importance of developing safety plans when leaving
  • The principles of the power threat meaning framework and trauma informed practice model when working with survivors of DA
  • The role of the therapeutic relationship in restoring power and control, autonomy, choice and self-agency
  • The impact of working with DA on practitioners and the role of self-care

About the speaker

Christiane Sanderson BSc, MSc. is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Roehampton, of London with 35 years of experience working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse and sexual violence. She has delivered consultancy, continuous professional development and professional training for parents, teachers, social workers, nurses, therapists, counsellors, solicitors, the NSPCC, the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Committee, the Methodist Church, the Metropolitan Police Service, SOLACE, the Refugee Council, Birmingham City Council Youth Offending Team, and HMP Bronzefield.

She is the author of Counselling Skills for Working with Shame, Counselling Skills for Working with Trauma: Healing from Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse, Counselling Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, 3rd edition, Counselling Survivors of Domestic Abuse, The Seduction of Children: Empowering Parents and Teachers to Protect Children from Child Sexual Abuse, and Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma, all published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. She has also written The Warrior Within: A One in Four Handbook to Aid Recovery from Sexual Violence; The Spirit Within: A One in Four Handbook to Aid Recovery from Religious Sexual Abuse Across All Faiths and Responding to Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: A pocket guide for professionals, partners, families and friends for the charity One in Four for whom she is a trustee. Her next book, The Taboo of Sibling Sexual Abuse: Working with Adult Survivors is out soon with nscience publishing house.

© nscience 2022 / 23

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