Think Tank 11 Safety in Focus

Coercive controlling violence Violence resistance Situational couple violence Separation-instigated violence

Longer-Term Safety they need to resolve their ambivalent attachments to the abuser, to protect themselves from developing attachments to other abusers to overcome psychological difficulties arising from the abuse and/or abusive childhoods. This comes under our priority of Recovery Services for all.

Victims and their children are at increase risk of more abuse The abuse they have experience continues after they have escaped Many feel they must be ‘going mad’ because they have problems that they have not have acknowledged. Feel more powerless or blameworthy for the abuse they experience.

‘Battered women who perceive that their helpers truly understand and accept the complex reality of their situation, perhaps including their anxious attachment to their violent partner, their own engagement in violence against their partner or their children, and/or their own perpetration of unwanted pursuit behaviours may be more likely to avail themselves of the services the shelter offers’ (Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J, ‘Controversies involving Gender and Intimate Partner Violence’, 2010)

Therapeutic Communities: Attachment Containment Relationships Participation Process

TT11: Envisioning Exercise Design the perfect safe, therapeutic space for a family who have had to leave home due to abuse.

TT11: Groupwork What would you include in a longer-term safety plan for each member of the family beyond the point of crisis?