Support Groups & Helpful Resources

When Love Hurts support groups are for any woman with experiences of abuse in their intimate relationship.  This could be a present relationship or a past relationship.  When we talk about abuse we recognize that this includes many behaviours that are not typically thought of as abusive but that are part of a pattern designed to undermine and disempower.  Sometimes this involves physical assault but often it does not.  

When women come to a group for the first time they are often not sure if what they are experiencing is abuse, and part of the journey of being in the group is about helping a woman discern for herself whether she is experiencing abuse.

We start each group with a check-in time and then we do an exercise that will teach about abuse and enable women to share their experiences and learn at the same time.  It is a very powerful experience listening to other women’s experiences of abuse.

Groups meet once a week for 10 consecutive weeks. Group usually runs for 2 hours each session. Most of our groups are online, but in-person groups are located in New Westminster or Vancouver. You don’t have to live in the lower mainland to attend. We welcome women from all over Western Canada.

New groups usually begin in September, March and January, based on the number of women who are on our waiting list.

We do ask that women will commit to attend all or almost all of the sessions they sign up for. Of course, we understand that these groups are not for everyone, and you can choose not to attend the group anymore if it is not helping you. But for the good of the group and for your benefit, we encourage you to attend regularly if possible.

If you are interested in trying a group, contact info [at] respect4women [dot] org.