Coalition Events

What does abuse look like, and how can we recognize patterns of power and control in relationships?

This educational session, held in recognition of Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day, we will provide an introduction to intimate partner violence (IPV), including common patterns of abuse and the Power and Control Wheel. We’ll also discuss how IPV can affect a person’s physical, mental, and overall well-being, explore what healthy relationships can look like, and share Maryland resources for survivors, friends, family members, and others looking for support or information.

In this session, we will:

• Identify common forms and patterns of intimate partner violence, including behaviors that may be overlooked or normalized.
• Describe how power and control can show up in relationships and how IPV can affect a person’s health and well-being.
• Recognize characteristics of healthy, supportive relationships and identify resources available to survivors and those supporting them in Maryland.

Description:

For people experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), abuse can also affect their faith and religious beliefs. A partner may use Scripture or religious teachings to justify abuse, pressure someone to forgive or stay, or create feelings of shame and fear.

Designed for IPV survivors and those supporting them, this 2-hour workshop explores the spiritual dimensions of recovery from IPV, including challenging abusive spiritual messages and finding pathways toward healing and wholeness.  Topics such as Scripture twisting, shame, justice, forgiveness, and prayer are included.

*This workshop is intentionally open to people from all belief systems and to those of no specific belief.

About the Presenter: The Rev. Anne O. Weatherholt, M.Div.

For more than forty years, Anne has led workshops for church leaders on Recognition and Response to Interpersonal Violence. She served as the faith representative on GOCI, was active with the Interfaith Domestic Violence Conference, and served on the board of CASA in Hagerstown, Maryland, as well as teaching prayer and spirituality for Faith Community Nurses for 25 years. The second woman Priest ordained in the State of Maryland, Anne is now retired from active ministry but keeps up her work to break the pervasive silence surrounding IPV in faith communities and assist advocates in understanding how to support survivors who desire a faith component in their recovery and healing.

Designed for intimate partner violence survivors and those supporting them, this 90-minute workshop offers practical tools to calm the nervous system and support the body’s natural relaxation response.

Participants will:

• Learn ways to soothe and calm the nervous system.
• Practice four trauma-informed techniques that include seated yoga, touch, breath, and focused relaxation to access the ‘rest and digest’ part of our nervous system.
• Experience the different energetic results of each practice and discover what works best for them.
• Use the resources provided to explore self-regulation.

The Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence, under the Center for a Healthy Maryland, invites you to “Healing with Nature: Grounding, Regulation, and Resilience for Survivors and the Professionals Who Support Them,” presented by Lauren Bathgate, MSW, LCSW-C, PMH-C, CNIT, Founder & Therapist at Guided in Nature LLC.

This 1.5 hour trauma-informed, evidence-based presentation is designed for both survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the professionals who support them, including social workers and behavioral health providers. This training explores the mental health benefits of nature-informed approaches and offers practical strategies for feeling grounded, safe, and emotionally regulated, while building resilience.

Participants will learn accessible nature-based practices — such as mindful observation, movement, and sensory grounding — that support coping, emotional regulation, and reconnection to self and environment.

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Summarize current evidence supporting the use of nature-informed approaches for stress reduction, emotional regulation, and resilience.
2. Identify trauma-informed, survivor-centered nature-based practices that can help participants feel grounded, safe, and emotionally regulated.
3.Describe practical, accessible, and ethically appropriate ways nature-informed strategies can be integrated into professional support roles and personal healing.

Designed for intimate partner violence survivors and those supporting them, this 90-minute workshop offers practical tools to calm the nervous system and support the body’s natural relaxation response.

Participants who attend the workshop can:

• Learn ways to soothe and calm the nervous system.
• Practice four techniques that involve touch, breath, and focused relaxation to access the ‘rest and digest’ part of our nervous system.
•  Experience the different energetic results of each practice and learn what works best for them.
•  Use the resources provided to explore self-regulation.

*Please contact ldougherty@medchi.org if you need assistance in signing up.