TISCUK Skills Session: The Lasting Impact of Growing up in a Violent Home

Behind closed doors, many children live with fear and chaos in homes marked by violence. Even when they aren’t the direct target, their bodies and brains absorb the threat, reshaping how they think, feel, and relate to the world. This training highlights those silent scars – changes in the developing brain, heightened stress responses, and emotional wounds that can echo across a lifetime without support.

Led by presenters with decades of therapeutic expertise in this area, including one with lived experience,

the session examines the deep physiological and psychological effects of disrupted attachment and chronic hypervigilance. Just as importantly, presenters will focus on how compassionate, timely intervention empowering children and teens can restore safety, resilience, and healing. Thanks to neuroplasticity, minds and bodies can recover. Through actual life stories

and practical tools, participants will learn how to help children talk about and process their experiences. This event is for all who work to protect and uplift children and create environments where they can truly thrive.

Presenters

Catherine Lawler

Catherine is a childhood survivor of domestic abuse; she has over 30 years’ experience of directly supporting children and families experiencing domestic abuse and coercive control. See has worked as a specialist domestic abuse children’s counsellor helping children and young people identity and work through their trauma experiences, she is a certified trauma informed practitioner and a qualified IDVA. Catherine has written three children’s books designed for young children and multiple professional guides. Catherine develops a variety of training for organisations concentrating on domestic abuse and coercive control, abuse within young people’s intimate relationships, the risks to children accessing pornography.

Dr Margot Sunderland

Neuroscience scholar and child, adolescent and adult psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience. Worked for over a decade with looked after children who had grown up in violent homes. Author of more than 20 books on child mental health. Founding Director of lATE, Higher Education College (academic partner University of East London) training child psychotherapists. Her acclaimed work makes complex neuroscience and psychology accessible for both personal use and therapeutic work with vulnerable children and young people.

Recording & Confidentiality NoticeThis event is designed to be live, interactive, and confidential. Because we’ll be working with real or illustrative case material and encouraging open discussion and break out activites for some sessions, we won’t be recording or distributing the session afterwards. All content and materials are the intellectual property of TISCUK and the speakers and are shared for your personal learning only. Please don’t record, copy, or share them without permission. A full text handout of the presentation will be shared after the event. Thank you for helping us protect the privacy of participants and maintain a safe, trusted space for everyone.