TURNING SOUR

How men can recognise the signs and manage their way out of - an abusive relationship

- Joe Minihane

When Craig Newman left his abusive relationship, he was surprised at the lack of options for those looking to move beyond initial crisis support, and set off on a path towards recovery. “It was incredibly complicated to understand how you recovered,” he tells MF, “which seemed pretty bizarre, given what I do for a living.”

Newman is a clinical psychologist, and has spent his career building eHealth programmes and solutions, helping people with mental health challenges. So, after working on his own recovery, he developed a model and began working with others who had found themselves in similar situations.

“It really revealed to me that there are massive gaps in the sector in terms of how we support people,” he says. “And when I say gaps, I mean chasms when it comes to men,” he says. “There wasn’t a long-term recovery model, programme or product available, which I’ve come to learn is an artefact of the way that the sector works, as it’s primarily focused on trying to support those in crisis.”

Newman’s recovery programme, called Get Out, Get Love’ (getoutgetlove.com), is designed to help men and women who have been in abusive relationships move beyond the initial need for crisis support. He says the aim is to help people understand why abuse occurred, what happens to them as a result and the needs that they have due to the experience. Available as an online course (£7.99 per month) and also as a forthcoming book, it’s aiming to take a fresh, therapeutic approach to the issue.

Gradual process