Holes in the Wall (HiTW)
Holes in the Wall, now run by Durham University and CAPA First Response, was initially created by Helen Bonnick MBE. Whilst Helen continues her role running HiTW in an advisory capacity, we have kept this original page to provide some context for her original work.
About me
I have worked as a Social Worker since 1980, qualifying in 1983 with a diploma from Goldsmiths College, and then working in a “patch team”, with anyone and everyone who walked through the door.
In the early ’90s I moved across to work in schools with parents, first establishing my own project to develop parental involvement as a means to raising achievement; and then for a third sector organisation, School Home Support (SHS), working with children and families to overcome barriers to learning. I have also worked on a range of small, locally-based, short term projects with young people, developing citizenship and personal safety skills.
From 1999 to 2010 I combined my work for SHS supervising colleagues – school-based family workers and learning mentors – with a role as a Practice Educator, working with social work students on placement for a number of universities.
What I carry across all of these is a heart for early intervention, networking, relationship-based work to enable people to realise their own skills and build resilience.
In 2004 I decided to go back into education myself and took an MA in Child Studies at Kings College, London, researching Parent Abuse as my specialty. Though I completed the course in 2006, I was so affected that I vowed to continue my own study and to work to raise awareness of this little recognised issue. From 2010 until 2016, I continued to work with social work students, while also throwing myself into developing this site and, increasingly, speaking on Parent Abuse at training events and conferences. After a number of years working on a guide for practitioners supporting families affected by this type of abuse, I am delighted to say that the guide was published in 2019.
I continue to write for a range of audiences, as well as for this website and have recorded items for podcasts and training purposes. I have consulted to government and the media on this issue.
I am a patron of Capa First Response, an organisation offering support and training for all those living or working with child to parent violence and abuse.
I have two grown up sons who have taught me much, above all that I still have much to learn.
About this site
The first time I came across a mother terrified of her teenage son was in the mid 1980s when I was working as a social worker in East London. We really didn’t know what to suggest – and it’s played on my mind ever since.
In 2005 I had an opportunity to research the kinds of help available for parents experiencing abuse from their teenage children. While we know more than we did in the mid ’80s, and there is certainly more help available now than there was then, it became clear that we were in many ways still in the early stages of understanding this issue. And that we still need to pull together to take it further. While academics and researchers know how to calmly test out information, it can be harder for parents to sift good advice when things get desperate.
What I aim to do here is to draw together everything I have found so far, and continue to find from week to week, with some comments and interpretations, as well as links to helpful material. I am also pleased to host guest posts from others from time to time. All material made available by third parties is published in good faith. If the site is useful to you as a parent, professional or academic, that’s what I hope for. If you find material or comments you disagree with then please let me know. By discussing these things we can all develop our knowledge and understanding further.
Thank you,
Helen
HOLES IN THE WALL 