Coercive control often plays a larger role than professionals initially recognise. They frequently fail to take into account the convincing lies of perpetrators. Professionals also wrongly assume that victims of coercive control will recognise themselves as victims.
Our high femicide rates are a national concern. Suicide rates are too often overlooked in this context: people experiencing intimate partner violence attempt suicide significantly more often than those who are not. Growing up in coercive control is devastating for children, yet their suicide attempts remain insufficiently researched.
During this free inspiration webinar, Iris and Jessica from the Expertise Centre on Coercive Control will demonstrate what often goes wrong in practice and the impact this has. Through real-life examples, you will gain insight into the impact of coercive control on parents, children and professionals.
You will gain concrete insights into perpetrator strategies used to win over professionals and how emotional dynamics can mislead you. Attention will also be given to the impact on children and the careful interpretation of their signals.
What will you learn?
In this session, you will gain insights, examples and deeper understanding of:
• coercive control in interactions;
• lies told by clients who seek help themselves or are involved in a child’s treatment as a parent;
• adult and minor victims who do not always recognise themselves as victims;
• the need to analyse emotional dynamics more critically;
• how to better manage your own professional pitfalls in complex situations;
• how to involve children carefully and better interpret their signals.
Who is it for?
This inspiration webinar is relevant for:
• process coordinators;
• professionals working with complex cases;
• mental health practitioners (such as health care psychologists, psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, educational psychologists or psychiatrists);
• youth care professionals, child protection workers and youth health care doctors;
• other higher-education trained professionals in youth care and child protection;
• behavioural specialists and behavioural scientists;
• school psychologists.
Do you work with the domestic violence reporting code (meldcode)? This webinar offers recognition, deeper insight and guidance for professional practice.
Practical information
Date: Wednesday 3 June 2026
Time: 12:00–13:00
Location: Online, webinar broadcast from the livestream studio on the Radboud University campus
Speakers: Iris and Jessica from the Expertise Centre on Coercive Control
Cost: Free
Language: English
About the speakers
Iris and Jessica are affiliated with the Expertise Centre on Coercive Control and combine their expertise as health care psychologists with practical experience, lived experience and scientific knowledge.
Iris is a health care psychologist, lecturer in the Master’s programme in Clinical Psychology at Radboud University and a PhD candidate focusing on the effective identification of coercive control. She is also a board member of the Expertise Centre on Coercive Control foundation, where she—often together with Jessica—develops and delivers professional training programmes.
Jessica is a health care psychologist who has been treating victims of coercive control in her own practice for decades. She has expertise in child and adolescent as well as forensic psychology and trains professionals based on her extensive experience in diagnostics, forensic psychology and the support of victims of coercive control.
During the webinar, Iris and Jessica will be interviewed by dr. mr. Marije Klomp, director of the Radboud Centre for Social Sciences.