Prevention Programs

Prevention programs and training are a crucial part of eliminating the cycle of violence.

The prevention program at Middle Way House addressed the urgent need for education and awareness around domestic violence and sexual assault, particularly among youth and young adults. By fostering a culture of non-violence and respect, the program aims to reduce incidents of violence and empower individuals to seek help. Our goals include increasing awareness through community education, empowering individuals by providing tools and resources, and engaging young people through targeted initiatives that aim to disrupt the culture of violence at an early stage.

We accomplish these by:

  • Conducting our Building Healthy Relationships curriculum in middle and high schools in Bloomington and surrounding counties.
  • Providing skill-up workshops specific to non-violence values and community building to the public as well as within the agency.
  • Partnering with local schools, libraries, churches, and other community spaces.
  • Distributing informational material.

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Building Healthy Relationships (BHR)

This program will be conducted in your student’s in-person or online health class. The curriculum features an interactive and evidence-informed design aimed at preventing dating and sexual violence in relationships. Specially trained educators will tailor presentations to meet the time frames and specific needs of each school. This program is available to middle and high schools in the area.
 
BHR addresses the following evidence-based prevention topics: power and control behaviors, fairness and boundaries, sexual assault and affirmative consent, bystander intervention, and peer support.  If you are interested in providing prevention programming at your school, please contact our Prevention Program Coordinator, Lindsey Badger, at prevention@middlewayhouse.net.
The course has been adapted to Canvas for MCCSC for Fall 2020; students and their parents who are enrolled in the course can view it there.
We collaborate with youth-serving agencies in the area to offer a variety of interactive activities, discussions, and projects aimed at at-risk youth. Our programs draw on our BHR and EPP core lessons. The youth-serving agencies we have partnered with include the Banneker Center, Bloomington Afterschool Network, Boys & Girls Club, Bradford Woods, Girls Inc., Monroe County Public Library’s Teen Programs, Prism Youth Community, Rhinos, Stepping Stones, and the Youth Services Bureau. If your youth-serving agency is interested in prevention programming, please contact our Prevention Program Coordinator, Lindsey Badger, at prevention@middlewayhouse.net.
Click here to view the recording of the recent MWH/Monroe County Public Library “Ask Anything” Program.

We offer adult-oriented prevention education for campus and community-based groups. Our services have reached various settings, including mental health and addiction groups, Indiana University classes, and adult programs at the Monroe County Public Library. Additionally, we have provided education to individuals incarcerated in the Monroe County Jail, as well as at conferences, festivals, churches, service provider meetings, and public events. If your campus or community group is interested in prevention programming, or there is a prevention initiative you would like to see in our community, please contact our Prevention Program Coordinator, Lindsey Badger, at prevention@middlewayhouse.net.

Explore the additional resources we’ve provided to deepen your understanding. We’d love to hear from you—feel free to reach out at prevention@middlewayhouse.net with any questions!

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Honeymoon Phase: Apologies, promises it won’t happen again, gift giving, overly affectionate, and nostalgia
 
Tension Building Phase: Picking fights, jealousy and possessiveness, overly critical, threats, unpredictable, feeling of walking on eggshells
 
Crisis/Explosive Phase: Verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual violence, increase in control, destroying property

We have all done harm- and we can’t expect ourselves to be perfect. Sometimes, when we mess up, we feel shame or fear punishment. But when we can move through the steps of accountability, we grow and change for the better. While it is sometimes easy in the short run to use power-over behaviors in our relationships, we see people build relationships they can trust and heal in if they develop healthy patterns. It’s hard, but we must own when we mess up and commit to change for ourselves and our  relationships.

Accountability has four parts:

  1. Self Reflection
  2. Apology
  3. Repair
  4. Changed Behavior

“True accountability is not only apologizing, understanding the impact your actions have caused on yourself and others, making amends or reparations to the harmed parties; but most importantly, true accountability is changing your behavior so that the harm, violence, abuse does not happen again.” – Mia Mingus

For more information visit: Building Accountable Communities.

If you’ve experienced harm, it is never your fault, and it is never your responsibility to change it. Sometimes, we still want resources to have the hard conversations and ask for people to make better decisions in our relationships. Make sure you assess your safety before trying strategies to change your relationship. Do you feel safe talking about your needs or the change you want to see from a person?

If so here are some ideas:

  1. Schedule a time with the friend or family member you need to talk to and tell them you wont to talk about something hard and that you really wont to be listened to and supported. If your friend or family member is not surprised, it may be true that they hove a better reaction.
  2. Choose one specific thing you wont to address- with one example (there is time to address others later- but dealing with just one thing makes it more manageable for everyone in a first conversation)- maybe you’ll choose something from Healthy Behaviors Wheel {page 11 or 17): Shored power and responsibility, fairness, honesty and accountability, good communication, trust and support, connection with others, physical safety, self-confidence, and personal growth.
  3. Frame it in the positive if possible: Is there on example of a time that went well that you wont more of?
  4. Use I feel/I need statements rather than blame/shame statements.

Some examples: I feel overwhelmed, nervous, tired, disconnected, lonely, misunderstood, etc. I need space, time, connection with friends, etc. You con use the Healthy Behaviors Wheels for ideas about things you could name as needs if you need the language for them.

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your friends or adults about making changes, here are some other things you can still do:

  1. Cultivate relationships with trusted adults (be proactive about this) find a teacher or family friend who can provide support.
  2. Safety plan: there’s one at the end of this resource guide or myplanapp.org. If you want to talk this through, you can call Middle Way House at 812-336-0846
  3. Refuse to model the patterns you experience with your friends or family in your other relationships (fess up, make a plan, develop accountability)
  4. Build friendships of peer support {we want you to be equipped to handle hard situations– you and your friends can participate in skill-up workshops for peer support. Get in touch with us at prevention@middlewayhouse.net)
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