Recognising Emotional Abuse and Coercive Control

Author: Krasi Kirova
Study time: 12 hours
Modules: 8
Available for Enrolment:
October 2026

COMING SOON: OCTOBER 2026

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

"Where is the line between a difficult or unhealthy relationship and emotional abuse?"

"How do I know when I should become more concerned?"

"My client has anxiety, depression or trauma… but could there be something going on in their relationship I am overlooking?"

"What kinds of questions should I be asking to better understand what's happening?"

"How can I distinguish mental health symptoms or attachment difficulties from the effects of ongoing abuse in a relationship?"

"I have seen so many different lists of abusive behaviours and red flags, how do I organise all of this into something practical that I can put in practice?"

"My client keeps minimising their partner's behaviour. Should I challenge that, or simply stay curious?"

"I think I would recognise obvious abuse, but what are the subtle, everyday behaviours that don't immediately stand out?"

Why This Course Is Essential Even If Domestic Abuse Isn't Your Area of Practice?

Consider this - only 16% of postgraduate psychology programs in Australia include a unit on family violence. As a profession, we are lacking even basic training in this area (The Clinical Psychologist, 2026).

   You're already seeing these clients, whether you know it or not
People affected by emotional abuse and coercive control commonly present with anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship difficulties and emotional distress, often without recognising or naming the abuse themselves.

  There is a significant gap in our training
At the same time, knowledge about domestic violence is becoming an essential professional competency. AHPRA and The Psychology Board of Australia are now calling for family violence education for everyone, recognising it as fundamental to competent practice, rather than an optional area of specialisation.

   How a practitioner responds can promote recovery or actively harm their clients
Survivors consistently report feeling validated and empowered when psychologists and counsellors understand the dynamics of abuse. Meanwhile, responses that minimise, dismiss or misunderstand their experiences can be re-traumatising and discourage future help-seeking.

This course has been developed for professionals working with adults who may be experiencing coercive control or domestic and family violence, including:

Psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists.
Couples therapists.
Psychology, counselling and social work students wanting to build knowledge beyond what is typically covered in university training.
Mental health practitioners including maternal and child health nurses and women's health practitioners.
Social workers and family violence practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of the psychological dynamics of coercive control.
Anyone working in a client-facing role where they may encounter individuals experiencing coercive control and family violence.

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This Course Is Not Intended As
This course is professional education for practitioners. It is not intended as a self-help program for members of the general public who are trying to understand their own relationship or determine whether they are experiencing abuse. Although some people may find the information personally meaningful, the content has been developed to build professional knowledge, clinical reasoning and assessment skills. If you are currently experiencing family violence or are concerned about your safety, it is important to seek support from an appropriate family violence service or qualified professional.

What Makes This Course Unique?

Built for psychologists and counsellors, not caseworkers

Most existing training on coercive control is designed for social workers, family violence practitioners, or the legal profession. This course is written specifically for the therapy room - what you need to notice, ask, and formulate, not how to conduct comprehensive risk assessments or provide case management.

Teaches you pattern recognition, not box-ticking

Throughout, the focus is on pattern, context and function rather than a checklist of behaviours, helping you develop a way of thinking you can carry into any presentation, so you can recognise emotional abuse whenever it shows up.

Application over theory

Every concept presented in this course is illustrated through a realistic therapeutic scenario or a case example and equips you with questions you could ask in your next session. You'll leave with knowledge you can confidently apply, not simply information you've learned.

Developed Through Years of My Clinical Practice

Developed by a psychologist who recognised the same training gap many practitioners experience and set out to create the course she wished had existed earlier in her own career. This is a framework that has been stress-tested in the therapy room, not just in academic research.

A genuinely original and effective organising framework

The 3Ds Model gives you a simple, yet memorable structure (Disrespect, Disempower, Distort) that reflects contemporary research without sacrificing the complexity and messiness of real-life.

Shows, rather than tells

Instead of handing you long chunks of theoretical lessons, the course walks you through a running case study where you have to notice, interpret, and refine your own formulation as new information emerges in the same way it builds over time in real therapy.

  Explain the relationship between emotional abuse and coercive control, and why physical violence is not the defining or most common feature of relationship abuse.

  Apply a pattern–context–function lens to recognise coercive control, rather than relying on isolated incidents or a checklist of behaviours.

  Apply the 3Ds Framework (Disrespect, Disempower, Distort) to identify the full range of behaviours and dynamics that characterise emotional abuse, including how the three domains overlap and reinforce one another.

  Recognise economic abuse (financial control, employment sabotage, financial exploitation) and technology-facilitated coercive control as distinct, often-overlooked methods of abuse.

  Understand the cumulative psychological, social, economic and physical impact of sustained coercive control, and reformulate presenting symptoms as expectable adaptations rather than standalone pathology.

  Use a range of assessment approaches, including indirect exploratory questioning, formal validated tools, and the 3Ds Assessment and Formulation Guide.

  Identify evidence-based risk factors and know the current legal landscape around coercive control across Australian states and territories.

Module 1 – Why This Matters
Understand why emotional abuse and coercive control are relevant to everyday therapy practice, why they are so often overlooked, and how they commonly present through anxiety, trauma, low confidence, exhaustion and relationship distress.

Module 2 – Understanding Emotional Abuse and Coercive Control
Learn to recognise abuse through Pattern, Context and Function, moving beyond isolated incidents and behavioural checklists to understand the broader relationship dynamic.

Module 3 – The 3Ds: Disrespect
Explore how repeated criticism, contempt, humiliation, dismissal and inequality gradually erode a person’s dignity, confidence and sense of worth.

Module 4 – The 3Ds: Disempower
Recognise how autonomy and choice are progressively restricted through financial abuse, isolation, intimidation, withholding of support and resources, micro-regulation and technology-facilitated control.

Module 5 – The 3Ds: Distort
Understand how reality is strategically manipulated through gaslighting, blame-shifting, DARVO, confusion and impression management, leaving people doubting themselves and struggling to explain what is happening.

Module 6 – The Fallout: Understanding Impact
Explore the cumulative emotional, psychological, physical, relational and practical effects of ongoing abuse, and understand why survivors’ responses are expectable adaptations rather than personality traits or symptoms of a mental illness.

Module 7 – Identifying and Assessing Emotional Abuse and Coercive Control
Learn how to bring together behavioural patterns, client experiences, relationship context, impact, structured tools and professional judgement. You’ll explore what questions to ask, how to assess collaboratively and how to recognise risk and escalation.

Module 8 – Practical Handouts and Resources
Access practical tools designed to support immediate application in your work, including client handouts, exploratory questions, assessment resources, The 3Ds Assessment and Formulation Guide, referral information and resources you'll continue to use long after the course has finished.

Your Course Presenter

Krasi Kirova

Krasi is a Clinical Psychologist and Board-Approved Supervisor with extensive training and practice in emotional abuse, coercive control and complex trauma. She provides professional training to psychologists on coercive control and domestic abuse and facilitates regular workshops for women navigating emotional abuse, difficult separations and Family Court proceedings.

Krasi is a member of Safe & Equal, Victoria's peak body for family violence, and a regular guest on the award-winning Australian podcast The Divorce Course, where she discusses coercive control and post-separation abuse.

Patrick Jones - Course author