Working with children and young people exposed to violence against women and girls, September – November, London more info…
5 day OCN course
AVA is an OCN accredited centre that has developed an accredited training course for practitioners working with children and young people exposed to domestic violence. The course is aimed at professionals wishing to deepen and consolidate their understanding of the issues with which they work and gain a formal qualification equivalent to A-level standard.

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), domestic violence and families, 25 September 2014, London more info…
FASD is the leading known cause of intellectual disability in the Western world, and is caused when alcohol is consumed in pregnancy. Many women who have endured domestic violence may have used alcohol as a coping mechanism or lived with men who didn’t want them to stop drinking when pregnant. Professionals would benefit from recognising the strong relationship between violence, trauma and FASD. This introduction to FASD will assist participants to recognise and understand FASD and the connection to domestic violence.

Troubled families, problematic substance use and domestic and sexual violence, 9 October 2014, London more info…
Domestic and Sexual violence is often present or has been present in the lives of ‘troubled families’, some times across multiple generations and has a significant impact on their lives. Problematic substance use can also be a defining factor of a ‘troubled family’ and is often linked with domestic and sexual violence.  Participants will gain knowledge on the links between DV/SV and problematic substance use, as well as what support and interventions can be effective with individuals and families experiencing these dual issues. This course includes how to respond appropriately to disclosures and how to support a survivor of abuse by recommending appropriate services. Delegates will also learn about risk, harm and resilience in ‘troubled families’ and what tools and interventions are available to work with these complexities.

How to support parenting post domestic abuse, 23 October 2014, London
more info…
Post domestic abuse parents often find themselves struggling with not only the trauma of having lived with the abuse but their children’s complex behaviours and needs. Traditional parenting support is based upon a behaviourist model which relies upon incentives and consequences to control and manage behaviour. However, the latest neuroscience and attachment research, along with a better understanding of the effects of early childhood trauma, show us that parents and children’s needs are best met when support is informed by these findings.

How to use a Response-Based Approach with survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and sexual exploitation, 14 November 2014, London more info…
Whenever someone is treated badly, they resist’ (Dr Allan Wade 1997) Survivors of abuse are often described as passive in their experiences of violence and abuse. Response-based therapy, a ground breaking psychotherapeutic approach, challenges this idea and identifies the many everyday ways survivors of abuse resist. It recognises survivors of abuse as actively responding to acts of aggression and actively opposing their abuse in order to protect their dignity and self-respect.
Participants will gain knowledge about a response-based therapy as well as how to effectively use response-based techniques with survivors of abuse. Participants will learn skills to appropriately challenge self-blame attitudes, and which encourages survivors to recognise their own resistance to violence and to support a positive view of themselves.

Perspectives on adolescent to parent violence, 5 December 2014, London more info…
A course on Adolescent to Parent Violence (APV), designed to raise awareness of the topic and provide participants with an opportunity to explore the dynamics of the issue as a profile of domestic abuse. Information will be provided on definitions, background theories, prevalence, risk factors, case studies and behaviour patterns. Consideration will be given of the problems of engaging with families around this issue and an overview of current service provision (models of work) will be provided.The day aims to increase knowledge of this issue and ways to respond, although it is not a training to deliver a specific intervention model, some useful activities for both parents and young people will be provided.

To book click on the relevant link or email Jude.long@avaproject.org.uk

September 4, 2014