Sharing our expertise with colleagues
Two RISE clinicians were selected to make presentations at an upcoming national conference. Congratulations to Joelene Whitfield and Miranda Warner for this professional achievement. Both will present the following sessions at the National Family Violence Conference in Wellington 23-24 March.
Joelene Whitfield
Joelene will gather female practitioners who facilitate men’s non-violence group programmes and explore their experiences, their challenges, and what they have learned being the only woman in the room amongst men working on lasting, positive change. The session is open to all people who want to better understand the experience of these female facilitators.
“So many of us never talk about this specific experience of facilitating groups of men,” Joelene says. “I believe it’s a rare privilege and an enormous responsibility to be the voice of women during group sessions. Based on my own experiences and in quick conversations with peers, I’m looking to explore many issues, including overt and covert misogyny, sexism, and objectification. What strategies can we share and how can we support each other to be more helpful to the men and also be as present as possible as professionals.”
Miranda Warner
In 2019 Miranda led a project in Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison in Cape Town for her Masters dissertation. She used drama in group work with men who were preparing for release to support their learning about emotional literacy, emotional regulation, and empathy. The group used role play and improvisation activities, along with reflective conversations.
Miranda says, “Drama gives us the chance rehearse situations in which conflict and/or triggers might arise. We can experiment with new ways of responding and reacting, trying these on for size, without being emotionally flooded because we know it is simulated. The playful aspect of this work can lower people’s defences, whilst also creating memories of times they’ve acted differently with different results. The aim is to start the process of creating new pathways in the brain, rewriting damaging and violent automatic responses.”
Joelene Whitfield
Miranda Warner