Experiencing violence

It can be easy to take your partner and the people in your life for granted. We are all so busy that we may not take the time to appreciate the people around us. To help get you started, we’ve compiled some ways you can show your appreciation to those that matter most in your life.

Domestic and/or family violence is any abusive behaviour in a family or intimate relationship where one person attempts to gain and maintain control over another. The violence is not limited to physical violence or sexual assault, it can also include emotional abuse and social or financial control.   How will you know if you are using...

Communication is something we can all improve on, especially if the situation is difficult. Sometimes we may mishear things and get the wrong end of the stick. Misunderstandings can lead to confusion, hurt and anger.

As 2019 draws to a close, we’re reflecting on the popular topics our community found most useful this year.

Below are some common excuses used when violence erupts in a relationship.   Partner blaming “They made me do it” It’s very common for people who use violence and abuse in their relationship to blame their partner. They may say that they are subjected to very annoying behaviour and their partner riles them up or deliberately...

In life there are essentially four decision making principles that give us an idea about how much influence we can have in different situations. These four principles are: Given, Input, Negotiate and Self.

It’s common knowledge that even a little bit of exercise is good for the body, but recent studies show that getting in shape also has great benefits for your emotional wellbeing.

Summer and the festive season often brings a busy social calendar. But not everyone enjoys these occasions. Here’s some tips to deal with stress and anxiety social events can bring.

Tough times don’t excuse tougher times at home. Even in crisis there’s no place for abuse or domestic violence. Everyone has the right to be free from harm and to live without fear of violence or abuse. All victims need compassionate and highly responsive support. The Help is Here campaign provides information on support services...

Counselling can help you understand what’s behind your anger and teach you different and more respectful ways to communicate intense feelings. Learning and understanding anger management techniques including new ways to communicate is important for you to make meaningful and lasting changes in your life.

Developing healthy, honest communication patterns can help build foundations that ensure our families feel supported and can support you.

Words matter, but from a child’s point of view, actions matter a lot more. Here Changing for Good looks at the importance of modelling respectful relationships, and how our relationships (good or bad) affect our children.

Families may find their physical and mental health impacted by crisis. This can mean we are less focussed on how we relate to our partners, children or others in our family. However, it’s important we work to maintain harmony in our closest relationships, as they will likely be our biggest support through difficult times.

There are numerous potential triggers for us to get angry. So, why is it, that sometimes we experience a trigger event and feel really angry, yet we can experience the same trigger event another time and it doesn’t impact us?

Queueing theory is the mathematical study of data from queues used to determine waiting times and improve service flow through a system. And it can be relatable to you!

It’s hard to face up to your own actions. You might want to deny responsibility for your behaviour. Partner blaming is often the most common way to do this.   Examples of partner blaming You think they need to change – to stop or start doing something so you won’t be triggered You’d rather focus...

Being honest with yourself about what has been happening is the first big step towards making the change that needs to happen. The second big step is telling someone else about what’s been happening.   It takes a lot of courage to open up and talk about violence.   Some people, when first opening up...

“I thought if they wanted my help they would ask for it… all along I had a gut feeling something was wrong but he was always so nice to us. How could he be such a great mate and do something like that?” You might think it’s best not to say anything because you might...

Achieving true behavioural change in your life, especially when you’re trying to change long-standing behaviours, can be a tough slog. Why is it so hard? What holds us back from making positive change in our lives?

We know it is important to build good relationships and spend our time and energy on our family. But to keep this going, you also need to spend some time looking after yourself. Think of it as self-maintenance; you have to take care of yourself to take care of someone else. With this in mind, we have put together a few things to consider.

‘Time Out’ is a process of temporarily removing yourself physically from an anger-provoking situation in order to calm yourself before returning. Abuse is not always physical. The bottom line is that abuse is when someone else is scared of you, your behaviour or actions, or is afraid of what you might do when you are...

There are differences in all relationships. The key is to try and see these differences as something to value, and not as a source of conflict. You can try to appreciate the ways your partner or ex-partner is different from you.