Survival, Not Disorder: A Free Online Event

We are delighted to be running an important free online event on 27 April 2026, 1pm - 3pm (BST):

Survival, Not Disorder: Applying the Power Threat Meaning Framework to Women’s Survival of Men’s Domestic Abuse.

This event brings together experts in trauma, men's violence, and psychology; including Professor Mary Boyle, co-author of the Power Threat Meaning Framework, Natalie Collins, founder of Own My Life, Jan Bostock, Power Threat Meaning Framework working group member, Professor Ravi Thiara, and Karen Connell, Own My Life facilitator, for a deeply reflective and practical discussion about how we understand women's mental health in the context of men's violence.

Why This Event Matters

Traditional mental health models tend to interpret women’s post-abuse distress through diagnostic categories. But the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) offers a non-diagnostic, trauma-informed lens that centres women’s reality, abusive men's misuse of power in relationships, and the adaptive ways women survive and make meaning. This fresh perspective challenges stigma, reframes distress as understandable responses to real threats, and opens up new possibilities for support and healing.

By shifting the focus from “what’s wrong with you?” to “what has happened to you?”, the PTMF helps to reconnect distress with real social and relational contexts rather than reducing it to abstract psychiatric labels.

Who Will Benefit from Attending

This event is relevant to a wide range of people and professionals, including:

• Support workers, counsellors and therapists working with women; equip yourself with a deeper understanding of how power and threat shape women’s responses, and how to support recovery more effectively.

• Mental health practitioners seeking trauma-informed approaches that move beyond medicalised models and prioritise narrative, meaning, and survival strategies.

• Women who have been subjected to abuse, offering a validating space to hear perspectives that centre survival and resilience rather than disorder.

• Friends, family members, advocates and allies who want to better understand what women go through, offer stronger support, and help create conditions where men's violence remains visible rather than dismissed, minimised or redefined as women's "mental illness".

What You Can Expect

Participants will gain:

• A clearer understanding of the Power Threat Meaning Framework and how it applies to women subjected to abuse by a male partner.

• Insight into how social injustice and gendered power dynamics impact women’s mental and emotional wellbeing.

• Practical ideas that can inform your daily work, advocacy, discussions, support networks, and policy thinking.

• The chance to take part in activities and conversations that help translate these ideas into real-world practice.

This event isn’t just a lecture, it’s an opportunity to connect, learn and reflect on how we can better support women at individual, community and systemic levels.

More About Each of the Speakers

R - L: Mary Boyle, Jan Bostock, Ravi Thiari, Karen Connell, Natalie Collins.

Mary Boyle is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London,  where she was Head of the Masters and then Doctoral Programmes in Clinical Psychology for over 20 years.  With Dr Lucy Johnstone, Mary is lead author of the ‘Power Threat Meaning Framework’ and also with Lucy, author of ‘A Straight Talking Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework’ (PCCS Books).

Jan Bostock has worked as a Clinical and Community Psychologist in NHS settings for over 30 years, and has worked independently in training and mentoring since 2019. She is a member of the national Power Threat Meaning Framework working group and a Trustee for Own My Life.

Ravi Thiara is Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick and was previously Director of a research centre on violence against women and children at Warwick. She has conducted pioneering national and international research in this area for over three decades and also been involved in practice and policy development. Ravi is particularly interested and has expertise in addressing gendered violence in structurally marginalised and racialised communities (ethnicity and disability).

Karen Connell is based in the West Midlands and has a background in teaching and tearning. Alongside being an Own My Life facilitator, she has over 25 years’ experience working in Primary, Secondary and Adult Education. For the past four years, she has worked as a Housing Needs Officer, and part of her role involves supporting families who have experienced domestic abuse. She is passionate about lifelong learning…and reverence for life.

Natalie Collins is CEO of Own My Life and creator of the DAY Programme. She is the author of Out Of Control; Couples, Conflict and the Capacity for Change (SPCK) and Abuse is a Verb; How To Talk and Write about Abuse (Own My Life) and works to enable women and girls everywhere to make sense of their lives and work out how brilliant they can be.

Book Your Place Today

Attendance is free, but places are limited; book now to secure your spot and be part of a transformative conversation.

CLICK TO BOOK IN

Whether you’re a professional practitioner, someone with lived experience, or someone who wants to deepen your understanding of domestic abuse and trauma, this event offers insight, support and tools for change. We hope you’ll join us.