In House Introduction Training

INTRODUCTION TO THE FREEDOM PROGRAMME AND THE EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE ON CHILDREN.

We can provide introduction training in house for your organisation for a minimum of 20 trainees as a full day event or a half day event. Each half day session costs £50.00  per person. Some of our trainers also charge vat at 20%.

Information about the Freedom Programme

The Freedom Programme is a domestic violence programme which was created by  Pat Craven and evolved from her work with perpetrators of domestic violence.

The Programme was primarily designed for women as victims of domestic 

violence, since research shows that in the vast majority of cases of serious abuse are male on female. However, the programme, when provided as an intensive two day course, is also suitable for men, whether abusive and wishing to change their attitudes and behaviour or whether victims of domestic abuse themselves.

The Freedom Programme examines the roles played by attitudes and beliefs on the actions of abusive men and the responses of victims and survivors. The aim is to help them to make sense of and understand what has happened to them, instead of the whole experience just feeling like a horrible mess.

The Freedom Programme also describes in detail how children are affected by being exposed to this kind of abuse and very importantly how their lives are improved when the abuse is removed.

Introduction to the Freedom Programme. (Two to Three Hours)

This is Session One of the Freedom Programme. It is usually  followed by a Question and Answer session.  All trainees must be given a copy of ‘Living with the Dominator’ and the ‘Home Study Course’.  This training will give them the confidence to use these publications one to one with their service users. They will also be to make informed referrals to local programmes. Trainees can buy both these books from Amazon. They can also buy them directly from me at a discount price of £5.00 per copy plus 5% p&p for orders of 50 or more. 

The Effects on Children. ( Two to Three Hours)

This is Session Four of the Freedom Programme. It is usually followed by a Question and Answer session. All trainees must be given a copy of ‘Freedom’s Flowers’. This training and the book will provide information which is essential to good practice to anyone whose work brings them in contact with children. Trainees must be told that they can also buy the books from Amazon or directly from me at a discount price. 

Feedback from Conwy Intro to the Freedom Programme Training

Probation Officer

 Heard about programme, so glad to finally get an overview and learn about the material. Very relevant for working with young females I am currently working with.

Case worker CAIS

 Really enjoyed the course, gave me lots of information on new laws. Trainer was very clear and ran subject greatly.

Case Worker CAIS

 Good training and great to get the materials

IDVA  NW Womens Centre

 Very informative and thought provoking, Trainer made me feel very relaxed. I now feel more equipped to discuss the Freedom Programme with clients

Social Services Denbighshire

 Very informative. Very relevant for my service users. Excellent delivery

Social Care Denbighshire

 Interesting well presented and informative.

Flintshire Youth Justice Service

 Loved it ! Very informative and the trainer was engaging from the onset.

Denbighshire Children and Families service

 Good programme, trainer had a wonderful sense of humour

Outreach worker

 Very clear and informative. Time to ask questions. Thank you.

12 out of 16 women had their children returned from care.

Christine Ashton runs the IDACNW centre in Leigh who run the freedom programme and provided these stats. Here are all the contact details. 

info@idacnw.co.uk 

01942 262290 

Freedom Programme Evaluation from WAVE DV Centre between June and November 2012. 

62 women were referred to the WAVE Freedom Programme. 48 women completed the programme. 

16 of them had children in the care of the local authority. 

28 of those children were subject to child projection plans and described as in need of safeguarding. (This was formerly known as the ‘at risk register’)

37 of the women who started the programme reported that they suffered from depression. 

24 of those women were taking prescribed anti depressants.

After completing the programme only 4 of the women still had children who remained in care. 

12 of them still had children who were subject to child protection plans. 

15 women now reported that they were depressed. 

12 women were still taking prescribed anti depressants. 

SUMMARY.

As a result of attending the Freedom Programme at the WAVE DV Centre:

12 out of 16 women had their children returned from care.

16 out of 28 women had their children’s names removed from the child protection plans. 

25 out of 37 women said they no longer suffered from depression. 

12 out of 24 women were no longer taking anti depressants. 

In our Hearts

‘In our hearts’ is a book written for and by mothers who live apart from their children within our project in Kirklees, WomenCentre. It is also a fantastic tool for anyone working with families whose children are not living with them or at risk of separation.

‘Throughout history, mothers who live apart from their children have faced harsh judgement in Western Society. Clouded in shame, the story of a mother apart is often marginalised behind that of the child/children they have left behind; surrounded by myth and a reluctance to recognise the factors which led to a mother’s separation from her children.

Within the groups at WomenCentre, an important aspect of work is mothers apart are able to acknowledge they are not alone; that what they feel is natural for the extreme circumstances they find themselves in.

In Our Hearts gives the chance for mothers to be heard in their own words and contains a mix of stories and artwork which remind the reader of her strength, resilience and creativity.

In Our Hearts is not a text book but the open and honest experiences of initial separation, court proceedings, relationships with services; of mothers who have been able to have children returned to their care or contact increased, mothers who have no current contact at all and those for whom contact will remain limited, have the versatility of being an aid and guide to learning for parents, families and professionals working in the protection of children.’

These books will be available to buy in September and will be launched at the University of Huddersfield in the Autumn. If you would like an opportunity to place an advance order please contact us by  email  on veronika.susedkova@womencentre.org.uk. If you have any questions about the book please make contact with Siobhan Beckwith on siobhan.beckwith@womencentre.org.uk .

Feedback from WAVE 's Intro to the Freedom Programme Training

Feedback from Conwy Intro to the Freedom Programme Training

Anqharad Laing Probation Officer

Heard about programme, so glad to finally get an overview and learn about the material. Very relevant for working with young females I am currently working with.

Jazmine Bonnell Case worker CAIS

Really enjoyed the course, gave me lots of information on new laws. Trainer was very clear and ran subject greatly.

Gemma Conroy Case Worker CAIS

Good training and great to get the materials

Jenny Obrien. IDVA  NW Womens Centre

Very informative and thought provoking, Trainer made me feel very relaxed. I now feel more equipped to discuss the Freedom Programme with clients

Patricia Rees Social Services Denbighshire

Very informative. Very relevant for my service users. Excellent delivery

Sue Williams Social Care Denbighshire

Interesting well presented and informative.

Karen Harrington Flintshire Youth Justice Service

Loved it ! Very informative and the trainer was engaging from the onset.

Diana Dewhurst Denbighshire Children and Families service

Good programme, trainer had a wonderful sense of humour

Rosie Morrow Outreach worker

Very clear and informative. Time to ask questions. Thank you.

Chris Ashton
Group Manager
WAVE Domestic Abuse Centre
101 Railway Road
Leigh
WN7 4AD
Tel 01942 262290
24hr 01942 262270
www.wavedvcentre.com
Follow us on twitter @wavedvcentre

Commonly used excuses for murdering women.

From 'Living with the Dominator' by Pat Craven
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Dominator-About-Freedom-Programme/dp/0955882702

The Liar uses minimisation

He uses certain words to make it all sound less than it was. “It was only a slap. It was only a push. It was just a joke. We were only playfighting. It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other. She gives as good as she gets. I only hit her when she is drunk.”

He lies about what happened

"I mistook her for a burglar!"

“I had to restrain her because she was hysterical. I thought she was going to hurt herself or the children. She fell and hurt herself. She bruises easily. She was drunk and fell over. I was not using sexual violence. I have a huge libido; I need sex all the time.”

“I was defending myself. I am the victim here. Where did she get those bruises? Who did that to her? It certainly was not me. Someone must have broken in and attacked her in the night. We quarrelled.”

He lies about why it happened. He blames everything, and everyone, except himself.

“I was drunk and don’t remember a thing. I always have a bad reaction when I drink spirits. I had taken too much heroin or cocaine and it made me aggressive. It always does. I also had a bad reaction to my prescribed medication.”

“I suffer from this medical condition which makes me lash out in my sleep. I don’t know I am doing it.”

“She made me so very angry. She pushed my buttons. She wound me up! I have a short fuse and just lost it! She nagged me until I just lost it! The red mist came down and I was so angry that I blacked out. I just snapped.”

“She is mentally ill and it is so difficult to live with her. Now and then I just lash out from sheer frustration.”

“The strain of living with a handicapped child finally got to me. The strain of caring for a disabled woman finally got to me. She is such a bad mother that the children suffer because of her. “

“She is the violent one. I am the victim. I need some help. There should be refuges for abused men. Who is going to help me?”

“She is a slag. She made me do it because she was having an affair. She was having an affair and she left me and I was heartbroken. I only did it because I love her. I was out of my mind with jealousy! She deserved it. She had it coming.”

“I had a terrible childhood. I suffer from Gulf War Syndrome. I am insecure. I have low self-esteem. My mother abused me. My ex-wife was such a bitch and a slag that I find it impossible to trust women.”

“I am suffering from anxiety. I am on four different kinds of medication for my stress. “I had a migraine.”

“I am autistic. I suffer from attention deficit syndrome. I suffer from Tourette’s syndrome. I have a borderline personality disorder. I suffer from Othello syndrome (morbid jealousy). I suffer from an obsessive compulsive behaviour disorder.”

“I have been working too hard. I am unemployed. My team lost. I have learning difficulties.”

Freedom Programme Feedback Bury St Edmonds Aid Centre

The Freedom Programme has been the most useful tool ever, in our aim to help the women understand ‘how did this happen to me?’ But so, so importantly how to hopefully see the traits of a future perpetrator, that they now know as ‘the Dominator’, before they are trapped again.

This truly has been the most wonderful enhancement to our work here at the Refuge, and leaves us, as Staff feeling we are giving our families the best chance of a safe, happy future. Many, many thanks for this Pat.

Feedback from our Birmingham training

Hi Pat
My apologies for not sending this feedback before I left work...I just hope my feedback gives your training the justice it deserves. 


I have attended a variety of training courses over my time in employment and all delivered in much the same way (death by power point) but the delivery of the Freedom Programme by Pat was by far the best I have ever had the privilege to participate in.  Pat and her colleagues gave the training life...a heartbeat...by using real life examples of all sides of the spectrum that is domestic abuse...from child...to mum...to perpetrator...no one left that training course without food for thought...be that their own reflections of how they work, deliver their work and of how this topic has impacted in their own lives in one way or another.  Pat, you are such an inspiration and I don't say that statement to anyone lightly ( I can count on one hand)...you may be retiring, but you have started a movement in the many women, children and men who have accessed your material in whichever way possible...a movement towards freedom of power and control...my respect to you and all that you do and continue to do...no more silent voices. 

Pat, I don't feel this statement even begins to express what attending your course meant to me...thank you for listening and sharing your time with me.  
Love and respect. 

Fantastic three days and enjoyed every minute. It was a real pleasure to meet such wonderful people from all areas and fields of work that want to make a difference to individual lives when they are unfortunate enough to get tied up in these horrible situations. Superb training Pat, you are a real diamond!

Enjoy your holiday everyone.

Love & hugs to all of you.

​Hi Pat

I found the training amazing, I was thinking about ways to deliver this in my own style all the way through. I felt sad leaving the 3 days as I felt a bond had been created with all that attended.

It's a shame you are retiring, those fantastic shoes will take some filling. I am glad that I had the opportunity to have sat in your training sessions.
Nottinghamshire Women's Aid Ltd

 For your blog…

“It was the best training I have ever received and I am not known to exaggerate. Pat was a warm and natural facilitator and absolutely knows her stuff. The freedom programme is an amazingly useful tool for women who are experiencing (or who have experienced) domestic violence. It is feminism without the “f” word, for those who may be out off by the label. Very powerful”

You may use it all or just some.

It was very powerful, Pat, I’m reeling a bit still from three days of hearing the abusive words/tactics men are using but thank you and I was very glad to be part of your last one in Birmingham.
Young Women's Outreach Support Worker - 'You're Not Alone' Leicester

The best training I have ever attended, by far.  I love the concept of taking the delegates through the same course material as the women we will facilitate to do the programme.  Lots of laughs, lots of tears and lots of food for thought.  Having worked in the field of Domestic Abuse, both front line and strategically, locally and nationally, I realise I had become blasé towards my work.  Not anymore!  This course really made me think about the dynamics of Domestic Abuse afresh.  I feel inspired to take on the cause anew that is Ending Violence against Women and Children.  Pat Craven is an incredible and wonderful woman.

 Senior domestic Abuse Consultant – City of Westminster Council.