How Abuse Gets Missed In The Counselling Room: An exploration using the Johari Window for Therapists

When a client comes into the counselling room and talks about their relationship, how we interpret what they share, and what gets attention and what gets overlooked by the therapist and client, can vary hugely. Which angle are we looking from, and is the client seeing what we’re seeing? And what about those people who say they went to counselling, on their own or as a couple, and the therapist just didn’t see what was happening? This session explores why that can happen when it comes to abuse and coercive control, using the Johari Window as a mirror for all of us, as therapists and as clients. What does it mean when we can see something a client might not yet be able to see? And what about the times when signs of abuse were there in what a client was sharing, but we didn’t recognise them until later, or…