Holistic help for victims of sexual exploitation
Talks and Training Courses
Talks and Training Courses
We accept invitations to give talks on human trafficking, forced prostitution and lover-boys. You can contact us here: kavod.office@gmail.com
We also offer training courses:
1. Trauma
Trauma occurs when a person finds themselves in a life-threatening situation.
In trauma, the body releases high levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, preparing its response to flee or fight. Since in trauma situations usually neither fight nor flight is possible, the body freezes, and it is almost as though its physical reactions have been shut down or paralyzed. Memory is also affected by being split off.
Dissociation is a normal brain response to trauma when we find ourselves in overwhelming situations. It is an uncontrolled survival mechanism.
This course also includes discussion of sexual abuse, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), triggers, flashbacks and the Stockholm Syndrome.
2. Vicarious Traumatization and Burnout
Make sure to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.
According to Michaela Huber, “vicarious traumatization results from transference during work with traumatized people, and from the amount and duration of that work.”
There are two manifestations:
– Compassion Fatigue: this is a dulling of the emotional world as self-protection. Professions which are particularly at risk include doctors, nurses, police officers and social workers.
– Secondary Traumatization: past stresses experienced by the helper are activated by dealing with traumatized people.
In this course we also discuss mirror neurons, the nerve cells that determine our empathy. Signs of vicarious traumatization are addressed, as are ways to heal oneself through reflection and self-care.
https://www.stlp.at/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Psychotraumatologie-und-Traumafolgest%C3%B6rungen.pdf
3. Dysfunctional Families
The system in these families is often described as a drama triangle, made up of the interdependent relationships of perpetrator, victim and helper. Anyone who wants to leave or seeks outside help is pushed into the role of perpetrator. The mother often plays the role of the helper, keeping the system going by placating, reciting her motto that it wasn’t so bad. She stays with the abusive father, the perpetrator. The daughter is often the victim, being manipulated but also herself manipulating.
This system can be found in the families of alcoholics, as well as in overly religious families. The victim refuses to take responsibility, saying Everyone is against me, blaming others, pitying themselves. Yet at the same time as manipulating by apportioning blame, the family is also looking for a saviour.
In this course we discuss the rules typical for dysfunctional families:
- Don’t trust, don’t talk, don’t feel.
- Parental unpredictability
- High tolerance to inappropriate behavior
- Aversion to conflict
- Difficulty accepting love
- Manipulation and blaming
- Role expectations
- Negative messages – shame
- Control
- Lies
- Sexual or physical violence
4. System of Prostitution
In this course we outline the rules that govern the system of prostitution:
- Laws governing prostitution
- The person in prostitution
- Human trafficking
- The workplace
- The clients
- The influence of pornography
- The influence of society
5. Church and Abuse – Culture and Abuse
Abusive systems prevail in all sorts of contexts, including churches. The stronger all too often take advantage of those who are weaker. In this course, we identify these systems, a first step to taking them down.
- Where are the pitfalls?
- Called to be a blessing
- Abuse in churches
- Abuse as a crime
- What can churches do?
- What can lay people do?
- Broken healers
- Communion
6. The Profile of Offenders
How does a loverboy, an abuser or a paedophile think? In this course we discuss their patterns of behaviour, as an aid to preventative action.
- Statistics
- Antisocial attitudes
- Paedophiles
- Power and control
- The perpetrator’s inner voice
- The consequences
- What distinguishes a paedophile?
- The survivor
7. Streetwork
In this course, we outline some basics of streetwork:
Rules for streetwork: some Dos and Don’ts
- What is our motivation?
- The criminal environment
- Data protection
8. School of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is such a sensitive topic. The behaviour of the perpetrator and the deed itself must never be glossed over. Genuine forgiveness is only possible when the person who has been harmed can grieve and be angry about the act. This course centres on these issues, with the aim of helping participants reach the point where they can let go and forgive for their own good. Here a list of the themes of this workshop:
- Forgiveness as process
- Forgiving the perpetrators
- Giving up on getting revenge on God
- A decision
- Inner pain
- Forgiveness and reconciliation
9. The Theology of Suffering – The Liturgy of Tears
The Bible speaks of sharing in the sufferings of Christ. This course considers how we can understand the notion that Jesus could still be suffering today -in the abuse of children and in the rape of women. We think about the suffering Christ and develop a “theology of suffering” which no one should have to shy away from.
- Why suffering?
- God’s pain
- Is God weak?
- Crucifixion
- Mary as a witness of the Jesus’ passion
- Victims of trafficking
10. Powerful Peace: a way to bless the body
The aim of this course is to engender blessing. We bless anyone seeking help with the peace of the Lord, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We consider how the Jewish concept of peace is much broader than the Greek. This is why Paul does not generally write about ‘peace’ by itself, but together with ‘grace’: ‘grace and peace’. The blessing of peace is never given to cover up something painful, but to create a safe, empowering place where a person seeking help can face distressing memories and current problems.
The course is an opportunity to invite God into situations where the help-seeker has not yet experienced His presence. When and how God works is His own sovereign decision. Whenever He works, we begin to see situations in a new light and from a new perspective. This enables us to “reframe” any situation in a new context, to see it from a different perspective. Anything in those situations which was good, but hidden, is then clarified.
