The Freedom Programme

I have completed a Freedom Programme course in my local area and I want to just say that I highly recommend it! If you are struggling to move forward after leaving an abusive partner or are with an abusive partner and thinking about leaving, but feel you are not sure that what you are experiencing is 'abuse' then please find a programme in your area and sign up!

It is FREE!
It is a 12 week Course!
It is Confidential!
It is an opportunity for you to make new friends!
It is a chance to learn more about Domestic Abuse and how to move forward!

I wish I had gone on one earlier - then maybe I would not have reconciled with my abusive ex. But saying that, if I hadn't gone back I wouldn't have Missy Moo!

The aim of the programme is to help women to understand the beliefs held by abusive men and the effects they can have upon their children, whilst helping them gain the confidence to improve the quality of their lives. It is not about telling women what to do but about empowering them to make their own choices. Those who have experienced abuse often have little of no understanding of what has happened to them and it feels like a painful and confusing mess for which they are largely to blame. The Freedom Programme aims to start turning this around at the women’s won pace. (www.next-step.org)

What helped me most was learning about the fact that I was not alone and as easy as it is to belittle your own situation, you realise that others have gone through similar experiences - some worse, some less, but you all have something in common. It is overwhelming when you hear someone else describe a situation that sounds identical to one you have experienced and that you thought you were alone in!

How did it come about?

The Freedom Programme© is a domestic violence programme which was created by and is run 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 is also suitable for men, whether abusive and wishing to change their attitudes and behaviour or whether victims of domestic abuse themselves. While there are currently no men's weekends planned, they can follow the course by reading the Dominator book and accompanying Home Study Course to learn about the issues, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours which make up domestic abuse (see below for purchase options).
The Freedom Programme© examines the roles played by attitudes and beliefs on the actions of abusive men and the responses of women victims and survivors. The aim is to help women who have experience domestic violence to make sense of and understand what has happened to them, instead of the whole experience just feeling like a horrible mess.

Every week (or session) concentrates on a different aspect of the Dominator. Each aspect or persona employed by the perpetrator looks in turn at the tactics used to control the victim, then examines the beliefs and values held by both perpetrator and quite often the victim too, and where these stem from, and finally it looks at how these behaviours and beliefs affect us as victims of abuse.
Each session ends by looking at the healthy counterpart of the Dominator and has a quick look at their behaviour. For instance, the healthy opposite of the Liar is the Truthteller, the healthy opposite of the Bully is the Friend. (http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/freedom_programme.html)