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Original poster

What actually *is* the Freedom Programme? Has anyone done it?

17 replies

AchingLimbs · 27/08/2021 11:10

I see it recommended on here all the time.

Have the people who recommend it actually done it? What happens in it?

I know I could prob Google some of it but I’d like to know if it’s significantly changed lives in the way that is suggested. Did people choose better/no partners as a consequence of completing the programme?

OP posts:
Original poster
AchingLimbs · 27/08/2021 21:15

Just wondering!

OP posts:
Hen2018 · 27/08/2021 21:54

It’s not great.

I’d recommend reading anything by Lundy Bancroft.

SpaceBethSmith · 27/08/2021 21:56

It’s a good starting point however it’s not comprehensive and further reading and therapy for your individual needs has to be doneZ

Rainbows89 · 27/08/2021 22:19

I did it because I’m a therapist and wanted to see if it’s something I wanted to recommend to my clients.

I did the online version. It’s pretty basic. I didn’t love it tbh.

SisterMonicaJoansHabit · 27/08/2021 22:21

Took years for me to get on it because of it not happening during hours I didn't have my children with me.

Then I started it (albeit with having to leave half an hour early to collect my children) and the person taking it appeared to be victim blaming.

I didn't go back. I was made to feel awful.

Etinox · 27/08/2021 22:30

@SisterMonicaJoansHabit

Took years for me to get on it because of it not happening during hours I didn't have my children with me.

Then I started it (albeit with having to leave half an hour early to collect my children) and the person taking it appeared to be victim blaming.

I didn't go back. I was made to feel awful.

I’m sorry to hear that. Bad trainer. I deliver it and bend over backwards to work around school holidays, ending in time for pick up etc. It’s very much a course and ‘doesn’t work’ if you miss bits. The trainer should have offered to catch up the missed parts. I was half way through a course when lockdown struck and it felt really unsafe, awful leaving the women half way through.
Hen2018 · 27/08/2021 22:34

I wonder if it is recommended frequently because it’s so short and cheap?

Etinox · 27/08/2021 23:22

Shark Cage is excellent and Own my Life Freedom Programme is the most widely recognised and therefore easier to get funding for. I’ve never heard it paid for by the attendees.

Hen2018 · 27/08/2021 23:26

I had to pay to attend.

anappleadaykeeps · 27/08/2021 23:35

I did the Freedom Programme, face to face, and found it really helpful.

Etinox · 27/08/2021 23:48

@Hen2018

I had to pay to attend.
That’s interesting. I wonder if it was to encourage attendance. How much?
NoYOUbekind · 27/08/2021 23:53

@Hen2018

I wonder if it is recommended frequently because it’s so short and cheap?
Well yeah - that's why I recommend it to women on here. There's little point recommending an expensive and hard to access programme to a woman who is being financially controlled and has to account for her time. The Freedom Programme isn't perfect but it's accessible, especially now it can be done online. It's a start, that's all.
bonfireheart · 27/08/2021 23:55

I never get it when any woman here has a toxic gaslighting and abusive partner and people are like "hey do the Freedon Programme". No you need to get away, get safe first, not go online to do a course, that's for later, now is not the time to be sat in front of a laptop

Gilead · 27/08/2021 23:56

I did a similar programme, it enabled me to free myself from 23 years of control. No partner now and fully intend to stay that way. Been living happily for a few years.

Walkingwounded · 28/08/2021 06:16

I did it. It was ok but the main benefit was doing it face to face with a group of women in the same boat, and the support from the trainer.

The following recovery toolkit course was a bit rubbish, but delivered online. About to do Freedom Forever, f2f.

Persipan · 28/08/2021 06:43

@bonfireheart

I never get it when any woman here has a toxic gaslighting and abusive partner and people are like "hey do the Freedon Programme". No you need to get away, get safe first, not go online to do a course, that's for later, now is not the time to be sat in front of a laptop
I think in that scenario the reason people recommend it is to help the poster more fully recognise the toxicity, gaslighting and abuse in order to empower them to act. Even in situations where the poster recognises that their relationship is probably abusive in one respect, there's likely many other aspects to it which they have yet to realise are connected. You so often see posts along the lines of "yes, I know deep down that [behaviour] is probably abusive but he'd never hurt us and he's a good husband and father" where the poster hasn't been able to connect the dots between their partner, say, rigidly controlling the family finances... with things like not letting them drive, throwing things at walls when angry, controlling contact with other people, undermining attempts at independence, etc etc... And so often the poster is drip-feeding tiny bits of the rest of the bigger picture, because it's been normalised in their relationship for so long that those things genuinely don't seem unusual. So I suspect the recommendation is partly in hopes of a lightbulb moment where the poster starts to see just how dysfunctional and awful their situation actually is.
UseOfWeapons · 28/08/2021 07:08

I did it, F2F, with a wonderful pair of facilitators, and group of supportive women. Coffee break halfway through, childcare in building. Was very helpful, bought the book afterwards, and that started off my education about domestic abuse. I think if I’d done it online, without the support of the group, it wouldn’t have had the same impact.

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