In 2016 Rock Pool was formed as a CIC, delivering a range of trauma informed training and consultation, building on the work started by Sue Penna Associates in 2005. Our company values centre around a belief that a trauma-informed approach can change society and we are committed to supporting and empowering individuals to lead independent lives.
Sue initially had a successful career as an Occupational Therapist and a Psychotherapist specialising in working with adults who had experienced developmental and sexual trauma as children. Leaving the NHS in 2005, Sue worked as a lobbyist and Domestic Abuse advocate for a local charity and was also volunteering in a refuge.
Sue has lived experience of a five-year coercive and controlling relationship, and she was struck that there were no direct services available to support women to understand the trauma they had experienced. The support on offer only addressed short-term emotional need, but Sue identified the need for a more intensive trauma-informed programme, that would alleviate the mind-conditioning and brutal impact of coercion and control.
In consultation with experienced staff and the women living in a refuge, the Domestic Abuse Recovery Toolkit was written. First piloted with seventy women it was adapted and amended following their feedback. Sue then developed a training package to enable front line workers to be able to deliver the programme.
Through developing a new approach to addressing the trauma of abuse and violence the Domestic Abuse Recovery Toolkit changed the landscape of support for people who have experienced domestic abuse. It was the first ever programme to acknowledge and address coercion and control, and today, still remains one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking programmes in its field.
Fast forward 10 years and Sue had been successfully delivering this training throughout the UK, to voluntary and public sector organisations supporting women who had experienced domestic abuse. The feedback Sue received showed that the programme was effective at enabling real change and recovery. However, on her own there was a limit to how many organisations she could reach, and demand was outstripping her ability to deliver.
So, Sue Penna Associates needed to grow, and Rock Pool CIC was set up in 2016.