Further
understanding of the issues
Background
The Rainbow Programme was founded in 2000 to provide access to a
foundation of healing therapies for both men and women who have been through
abuse
It was started by people who saw the need for a bridge between the
limited 'crisis' provision that exists and the wonderful diversity of healing
therapies now available, but which remain beyond the financial reach of many
people.
The initial funding that we received to set the programme up has come
to an end, a little sooner than expected, due to circumstances beyond our
control. We have been developing and applying for further sources of funding,
in order to build and secure the programme's financial future. This includes
building our supporter base.
We remain focussed on our goal of building and strengthening a positive
approach to healing abuse in the world, in line with our overall aim:
to change for the better the way the world
responds to abuse. We aim to increase understanding of the experience of abuse
and how to meet it in a therapeutic way that is genuinely empowering for the
client.
Creating healing
The founding principles of the Rainbow Programme are that healing is always
possible and that each of us has the ability, with appropriate support, to create
our own healing.
As any person who has been through it knows, the legacy of being abused
is far reaching and can affect any part of a person's life – physical,
emotional, mental or spiritual. Usually all these are affected to varying
degrees. In other words it is the whole person who deals with the legacy
of being abused, and therefore it is the
whole person who needs healing. For this reason, the Rainbow Programme offers a
holistic approach.
At the Rainbow Programme the individual client, with expert support, is
able to choose what they need to heal from our expert team of professionally
qualified professionals. This approach is non directive not “One
size fits all”. Rather it promotes and encourages individual development. The
opportunity to choose in this way, funders have told us, is unique.
Understanding the social picture
At the Rainbow Programme we recognize that people can develop
addictions, mental health problems, criminal behaviour, anti social behaviour
and many illnesses for a reason: as a coping mechanism or in order to suppress
intense, overwhelming feelings left by the trauma they have been through. In
virtually all cases the root causes relate to a previous experience of abuse or
trauma
We recognise that when you look at the roots of a current problem,
memories come up of past traumatic experiences that often include experiences
of abuse. This can bring on a crisis of healing. This is when a client is
vulnerable to relapse. When people are supported through and beyond this
crisis, true recovery can happen surprisingly quickly
The Rainbow Programme therefore goes beyond initial crisis support,
recognising instead that follow-on work
is usually needed, although not always for a long time. What we have found is
that just 9 months of intensive support is enough to enable clients to turn
their lives around.
The
Rainbow programme offers every client the chance to take charge of their own
recovery from abuse. Rooted in the principle that healing is always possible, we
support clients as they heal their lives
and their relationships with the world [ LINK to Beck's story here I think]
The
social cost of abuse is, of course,
enormous: social isolation, criminal behaviour, addictions, family breakdown,
to name but a few of the effects. Abuse is a form of social exclusion, the Rainbow
Programme is a powerful form of social inclusion
The
Rainbow Programme challenges the negative stigma of having been abused, and we
aim to build the presence of a positive approach to healing abuse in the world.
Be part of the solution, not the problem
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