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Educational Services
For many women the safety offered by the refuge is a great comfort.
Sometimes, and with great justification, clients have an aversion to leaving the house and venturing out on the streets. For the early days he MWR recognised how valuable it was for clients to spend time away from their worries, so in 1992, a purpose built Arts and Crafts room was built next to the childcare facility.
 Women can come to their art class, have a cup of tea, work with art materials or read. Those who want to participate are given a craft project to complete. Many diverse areas of craftwork are offered, including jewellery making, creative embroidery, glass painting, pottery (with an in-house kiln) and painting.
The craft room is a space where women can spend time by themselves, free from more pressing concerns and from the cares of their children. They can speak of their lives in confidentiality, knowing that others have had similar experiences and that help is at hand should they wish to avail of it. It is in this nurturing, creative environment that women not only begin to create a new vase or painting, but begin to create a new perception of themselves.
PATTERN CHANGING PROGRAMME FOR ABUSED WOMEN
The Pattern Changing Programme was developed in the U.S. in 1984, as a response designed to address the problem of domestic violence. It became clear through a lot of research that what was needed to help women through this issue was assertiveness rather than counselling. Pattern Changing came into being through attentive listening to the expressed needs of women in abusive relationships, and a deep commitment to attempt to fill those needs. Pattern Changing is an educational group programme designed to address the problems of abuse.
Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services believes that if a woman is not to be a chronic victim of domestic abuse she must possess a three-fold foundation of:
Rights, Boundaries, and Assertiveness.
The structure of the programme is based on the expressed needs of women and incorporates:
- A comprehensive educational programme for women
- Group support and counselling if required
It will consist of a two-hour session once a week. It involves fifteen sessions for up to ten women. The sessions will include a balance between a structural educational programme and a time for sharing and support from each other in the group. Pattern Changing is not group therapy, clients who are not already in counselling, but through their involvement in the programme now feel they need to speak to a counsellor, can be referred to one by the programme facilitator.
The programme will cover the following topics:
- Your rights and the impact of abuse.
- Family roles and abuse, why is it so hard to leave?
- The dysfunctional childhood legacy.
- Boundaries and good-byes to old patterns.
- About feelings: Grief, fear, and guilt.
- More about feelings: Anger.
- Boundary setting using assertiveness skills {1} Myth and Reality
- Boundary setting {2} Techniques.
- Boundary setting {requests and authority figures}
- Boundary setting {Pratice}
- Setting realistic goals.
- New patterns of decision making.
- Healthy relationships.
- Changed patterns.
- Endings and beginnings.
The primary goals of the programme are:
To provide a safe, challenging and supportive environment in which interactive learning can occur.
To provide an understanding of the abuse problem
To allow victims of abuse to see in clear perspective the negative childhood patterns and their legacies to the adult victim.
To introduce practical tools for changing these patterns.
To identify the problem {the abuse} and to correct it.
The Goals of this Programme are:
- For women to understand abuse and its realities for the entire family
- To become aware of their life long patterns
- To set realistic goals
- To learn new techniques for developing new patterns of there own choosing.
Pattern Changing offers education, support and practice in developing skills and techniques for positive change. The group experience is a critical factor in the success of the programme. It permits women in an abusive relationship to meet others in the same situation, and relieves the feeling of total isolation which so many women in abusive relationships experience. They encourage one another in the learning process and share the challenge of change as well as drawing strength and determination from one another.
This programme is offered by Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services, as part of its Outreach Services. If you wish to find out more about this program please contact
Christine Devlin
Mobile:0860533827
Email:
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Meath Women’s Refuge and Support services
Tel: 046- 9022393.
THE NEXT PROGRAME IS DUE TO START IN JAN 2010
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Education