Sign In / Register
A support group for men who have been exposed to abuse is extending its service to the Hibiscus Coast and wider Rodney, starting this week.
Better Blokes has been providing services in Auckland for around 12 years; it began operating from the Warkworth Hospice on June 18.
The organisation offers free peer support and face-to-face sessions.
North facilitator Philipe Eyton says the new branch has opened in response to needs expressed by police and GPs.
“The feedback has been that men have been unable to access services in Auckland because of the distance,” he says.
Philipe says Better Blokes wants to hear from any man, or their partner, who may have experienced one of five types of abuse – physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and psychological.
“A man may not even be aware he has been abused or that it has had such a huge effect on his life. Signs include anger, sabotaging of relationships with partners and family, or frequent job changes in an endless search for meaning,” Philipe says.
When a man makes contact or is referred to Better Blokes by a GP, a facilitator will work with them to identify their strengths and goals and come up with a plan to help achieve them.
“We use a ‘strengths-based’ approach, which is about working on self-esteem. One of the huge consequences of abuse is low self-worth, and as a result we get good at sabotaging our lives and others around us.”
Philipe was an electronics engineer and worked in medical electronics, before realising that it was helping people and working with frontline medical staff that drove him.
“After 30 years in the field, I decided to retrain and work with people who have suffered from sexual abuse because of my own background.”
Better Blokes has signed up two local facilitators for the new branch and is looking for more who want to be trained in peer support.
Philipe says peer support differs from traditional counselling in that facilitators are not only allowed to self-disclose and share from their own experiences, they are actively encouraged to do so.
Info: phone 0274 434 617 or visit www.betterblokes.org.nz
