New school-based project helps children who have experienced domestic violence

Healing Together is a new project from Bristol-based organisation Opoka, which helps women who are victims of domestic violence. This time Opoka aims to run sessions of therapy to help children who have experienced violence at home. One hundred and fifty Polish children from ten schools across Bristol will take part, together with 50 teachers and five volunteers. The activities are funded by a grant from Thrive Bristol.

“The effects of domestic violence have a huge and long-lasting impact on children and their future lives,” says Aneta Maryla Mackell, founder and coordinator of Opoka. “Children are at risk of depression; constant anxiety interferes with establishing good peer relationships and learning at school. Poor mental wellbeing translates into physical health problems.”

The idea for the programme came from mothers who had begun to recover after experiencing domestic violence: “Their children were labelled ‘naughty’, were at risk of being excluded from school, and had difficulty accessing any kind of support. A key issue that I would like to highlight is that children get these labels because teachers are also not fully aware that violence begets violence.  It’s an additional burden for mothers who have experienced trauma.”

The 12-month long programme includes six individual or group sessions for children and teens from primary and secondary schools, conducted in Polish or English. After the first session, the child will decide if they want to continue the therapy. The therapist will work with only one child at a time in a dedicated, safe room at the school. It is possible to conduct meetings by Zoom as well.

Healing Together is a new project from Bristol-based organisation Opoka, which helps women who are victims of domestic violence. Photo by Opoka

”We will not ask about experiences related to domestic violence,” Ms Mackell says. “During creative activities the child will be given the opportunity to express their emotions, they will also be able to talk about anything that worries them, and they will learn techniques for staying calm during anxiety attacks caused by traumatic experiences. We usually work with Polish families, but since we provide bilingual support, we do not exclude children of other nationalities.”

There will also be training for teachers and teaching assistants. They will be introduced to the topic of domestic violence, and shown how they should talk to vulnerable young people who need support.

Anna is the mother of one of the children participating in the programme. “I’m really grateful that my child is getting the support so desperately needed,” she says. “When faced with domestic violence, we are helpless and often forget that our children are suffering too, and they don’t always have help. I believe that thanks to this program my son will understand that what happened in our house was not his fault, and I really hope that one day he will smile again.”

Main image by Katarzyna Sowinska

Read a Polish translation of this story