coercive control seminar

DID YOU KNOW THAT COERCIVE CONTROL IS NOW A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN IRELAND, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR PROFESSIONALS?

Did you know that on the 2nd January 2019, legislation against coercive control in domestic violence came fully into effect in Irish law (under both civil and criminal law).

Before this new legislation, domestic violence had been seen primarily as physical abuse, it did not recognise the damage done to victims by psychological abuse. In Ireland, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are living with the effects of domestic violence.

We now know that out of 3 people experiencing domestic abuse, 2 will be a woman, and 1 will be a man. This also means that all of their children will be caught in the middle of the violence and will suffer too.

I do not think you can speak about coercive control without speaking about narcissistic abuse because both go hand and hand together. For that reason, I have written a book called “THE GASLIGHTING SYNDROME”.
Not all victims of narcissistic abuse are familiar with the term coercive control, however all around the world victims have named these behaviours collectively as “Gaslighting”.
The term was taken from the 1944 movie Gaslight, where a husband plays psychological mind-games (using ambient abuse and coercive control) to deliberately manipulate his wife’s perception and reality for the distinct purpose of his personal gain.

WHAT HAS THIS TO DO WITH PROFESSIONALS WORKING ON THE FRONT-LINE WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

Only when professionals who are working on the front-line with victims of abuse (i.e. psychotherapists, doctors, police, solicitors, Judges, etc.) will the new coercive abuse bill work. It is only by fully understanding the extent of ambient abuse and coercive control that we can make sure that effective prosecutions are carried out through the Courts, giving victims the justice, they deserve.

In domestic violence where there is coercive control, the battered partner surrenders to the will of their narcissistic abuser to save themselves from further hidings and humiliation. Clinicians need to understand the nature of the conditions that exist whenever bonding occurs between the victim and the narcissist perpetrator. Failure to appreciate the survival function of Stockholm Syndrome is likely to lead to victim-blaming.

THE GASLIGHTING SYNDROME IS NOT LIMITED TO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS:
A word of warning to all professionals. Gaslighting is not limited to intimate romantic relationships or domestic abuse. It can happen in all kinds of relationships, whether it be in a romantic relationship, in a family relationship, a friendship, the workplace, or en masse in politics, etc. We need laws that protect everybody.

CONTROL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LOVE, IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH POWER
Coercive control is ultimately about owning and controlling the victim, with the express purpose of removing their freedom. It is nothing to do with “love”, but everything to do with psychological assaults, passive-aggressive insults, ultimatums, and a general loss of “liberty”.

Tickets have now been released on Eventbrite. Here is the link:
From The Shadows Coercive Control Seminar