Expect Respect: A Masterclass Sample of a Signature Program from Women and Children First
Tracks
Ballroom 2
| Monday, November 27, 2023 |
| 4:00 PM - 5:20 PM |
Overview
Dr Gabrielle Morrissey & Sarah Cocksedge, Women And Children First
Speaker
Mrs Sarah Cocksedge
Senior Manager
Women And Children First
Expect Respect: A Masterclass Sample of a Signature Program from Women and Children First
Biography
Sarah has worked in the not for profit sector (family support, women and children’s refuges, Lifeline NSW, YWCA) and as a qualified counsellor in Sydney, for the past 13 years.
In her work, she provides psychoeducation to clients, evidence based parenting programs such as Tuning in to Kids and Circle of Security (attachment parenting) and trauma informed, domestic abuse support groups. As Senior Manager at Women and Children First, her focus is to deliver best practice services to vulnerable families within the local community, including those impacted by domestic abuse.
As it takes a village to raise a child, the Women and Children First team collaborates with other services, to provide the wraparound support that families in crisis need to heal.
Dr Gabrielle Morrissey
CEO
Women and Children First
Expect Respect: a Masterclass Sample of a Signature Program From Women and Children First
Abstract
Expect Respect is a 6 week psychoeducational program for women who have experienced domestic violence or are still living with the perpetrators encompassing a strengths-based approach, trauma theories, and presents domestic violence as an abuse of the human rights of its victims-survivors. Everyone has the right to live free from violence of all kinds, in public and at home.
Expect Respect builds a space where women are encouraged to reflect on their experiences without shame, be their authentic selves, hear from other women who have similar stories, and build and strengthen their capacity to recognise behaviours that cause harm, challenge gender stereotypes and unacceptable behaviours, develop a positive sense of self and resilience, and embark on the road to self-sufficiency and liberation. At the heart is that relationships must be based on equality and respect.
As a signature program of Women and Children First, located in North Sydney, Expect Respect is run four times a year in two locations. Pre and post program analyses assess participants’ reflection and knowledge about domestic violence, knowledge about their own self, and their feelings towards safety, healthy relationships, and ability to keep moving forward.
Over the years, participants reported increased knowledge about all facets of domestic abuse and its impacts:
“This course has given me the strength to at least make the decision to leave and, even though I haven’t left, I have gained valuable knowledge and skills from this course that will assist me leaving in the future”
“Being in a group where others had already left the relationships was so useful for me and inspiring that change can happen.”
Experience this Masterclass sampling to learn how a program like this is a soft entry to services supporting women who leave, or are planning to leave abusive, coercive, and/or violent situations.
Expect Respect builds a space where women are encouraged to reflect on their experiences without shame, be their authentic selves, hear from other women who have similar stories, and build and strengthen their capacity to recognise behaviours that cause harm, challenge gender stereotypes and unacceptable behaviours, develop a positive sense of self and resilience, and embark on the road to self-sufficiency and liberation. At the heart is that relationships must be based on equality and respect.
As a signature program of Women and Children First, located in North Sydney, Expect Respect is run four times a year in two locations. Pre and post program analyses assess participants’ reflection and knowledge about domestic violence, knowledge about their own self, and their feelings towards safety, healthy relationships, and ability to keep moving forward.
Over the years, participants reported increased knowledge about all facets of domestic abuse and its impacts:
“This course has given me the strength to at least make the decision to leave and, even though I haven’t left, I have gained valuable knowledge and skills from this course that will assist me leaving in the future”
“Being in a group where others had already left the relationships was so useful for me and inspiring that change can happen.”
Experience this Masterclass sampling to learn how a program like this is a soft entry to services supporting women who leave, or are planning to leave abusive, coercive, and/or violent situations.
Biography
Dr Gabrielle Morrissey is a distinguished academic, author, CEO and media commentator on all aspects of relationships, healthy and unhealthy. The author of 3 books, and 17 years of newspaper columns and a nationally syndicated radio show, Dr Gabrielle has listened to and helped every kind of relationship. Through associate professorships at medical schools in the US and Australia, she has conducted research on what makes a relationship good or bad and shares her insights internationally. Passionate about helping anyone vulnerable, she is now the CEO of Women and Children First, and advocates for change in the DFIPV sector.
