Kathy Grogan is the founder of the STOP Project in Leeds. She enjoys reading, is a big fan of Paul Newman and would love
to travel around the American Mid-West...
Client Group: Perpetrators of domestic violence (male or female), individuals with anger management issues and female victims of violence.
Job Description: Overall management of the project and acilitation of the groups.
Length of time in the post?
16 years. I founded the project in 1989.
Previous employment / experience? My
background is in Human Rights and Social Justice. I have held
many positions within this sector, including being the co-founder on
the Genesis Project.
What qualifications or skills do you have? I
have an advanced Diploma in Human Relationships and have attended a
variety of courses which have helped me to develop the STOP
Project. With regards to the skills I have, these have been ones
which I have learnt through experience, such as communication and group
management skills and general life skills, such as learning how to
perceive and relate to people, being non-judgmental and listening.
Which of these, if any, do you feel is more important in your current role? Definitely
the skills rather than the experience. Of all my particular
skills, I would say that the group facilitation skills were the most
useful in this role.
Are you planning to do any more training in the near future, and if so, what type of course would you like to do? I
tend to do courses as and when the right ones come along. Any
course which would improve the quality of the sessions that we run,
would be of interest to me.
What have been the biggest changes in your organisation in the last year? The
issue of funding. We no longer receive Lottery funding and we
have had to change how we generate income. This means approaching
more organisations for smaller amounts of funding. The other big
change has been the number of similar perpetrator groups that the STOP
Project has spawned. Facilitators have been able to take the skills
that they have learnt from STOP and set up their own groups. This
has meant that more people are able to access this type of service.
Where do you see your organisation in five years time? Hopefully
we will still be training facilitators to start up their own
perpetrator groups - ideally we would have groups in all GP
surgeries. It would also be great if we could set up a ‘buddy
scheme’, which saw some of our previous participants supporting the
newer members.
What inspires you the most about your role? Facilitating
the groups - seeing someone gain that understanding about their
behaviour and learn how to change and become ‘emotionally articulate’,
is as rewarding for me now as it was when I first started the project.
What frustrates you the most about your role? Finding funding and doing paperwork!
Best thing about your client group? Because
all our clients are self referral, I would have to say the best thing
is the courage they show in taking that step to contact us.
Worst thing about your client group? Probably
the high drop out rate - which is about 40%. Coming forward is a
big step, but they have to want to change in order for the programme to
work for them.
Top tip for other support workers? Academic
skills are not essential, it is your approach that counts - I would say
that being non-judgemental, caring and supportive are essential
qualities.
With regards to working within this particular
client group I would say don’t be fearful, helping these people to
change their behaviour is not only important, it can also be incredibly
rewarding.
For more information on the STOP Project please
contact Kathy Grogan on 0113 244 6007, email
or log onto www.stop-project.org.uk
