‘There is hope’: Domestic abuse survivor continues to share positive messages as her online community expands

A domestic abuse survivor continues to share positive messages of hope as her huge online community continues to expand.

Caroline Strawson had her home in Grange Park repossessed 11 years ago to the date of her latest interview with the Chronicle & Echo.

The mother was left in £70,000 worth of debt from financial abuse, which left her with nothing.

Now, after healing and learning from her experiences, she is an award-winning trauma therapist, coach and entrepreneur – and the author of three best-selling books with another on the way this year.

Caroline’s podcast, The Narcissistic Abuse & Trauma Recovery Podcast, has had more than 4.5 million downloads.

To top it all off, she has gained more than two million views on YouTube, 218,000 followers on Instagram, and has a free support group on Facebook with 40,000 women from more than 80 different countries.

Caroline founded a School of Trauma Informed Positive Psychology, with healing and education programmes – and the world’s only trauma-informed coaching certification that is the equivalent to a masters degree.

Her core passion is supporting female survivors of domestic abuse and the last time she spoke to this newspaper she held a ‘Christmas glimmer ball’ to celebrate how far they had all come.

Since then, Caroline launched a new brand called ‘The Mental Wellbeing Company’ just five weeks ago.

She shared it is a franchise opportunity for individuals who want to get involved with training in trauma, mental health and wellbeing to ensure it is available in schools, workplaces and the public sector.

Caroline’s trauma-informed coaching certification forms part of the training and the brand already has 193 partners around the world, more than 140 of which are in the UK.

“We’re one of the most affordable franchises with the biggest impact,” said Caroline. “We embody what we teach and work on our mental health journeys.”

The brand has had an “incredible” response as people are aware of the “huge need” for training of this kind – particularly to understand why people are displaying particular behaviours and to create a “compassionate society”.

“There is a lack of trauma-informed professionals that understand domestic abuse,” said Caroline, who emphasised the issue with telling those experiencing abuse to ‘just leave’.

“We need to understand the complexities of the brain and nervous system, and stop shaming survivors for staying in these relationships. You become trauma bonded and it’s not as easy as that.”

Caroline receives more than 100 messages a day from other survivors, saying they have used her resources to understand and heal how they feel.

She said: “We can’t heal what we don’t understand. There’s hope.”

For anyone currently in an abusive relationship or environment, Caroline encourages them to reach out to people who can signpost them to what they need. This is something Caroline can do.

“Gathering information doesn’t mean you have to leave,” she said. “With the potential of an exit strategy, you can navigate it carefully and safely.”

Caroline will also be introducing a range of other workshops, including on social media safety and neurodivergence. She hopes to seek government funding to introduce the workshops in schools, and provide an opportunity for companies to sponsor schools to receive it.

For more information, visit Caroline Strawson’s website here.