Reclaim Self
An educational program for women making sense of harmful relational experiences
Release Date: March 2026
Harmful relationships do not always involve overt violence or dramatic rupture. Many women experience sustained psychological, emotional, relational, or institutional harm that is difficult to name; and even harder to explain to others.
Coercive control and abuse doesn’t just happen within intimate heterosexual relationships. Many women experience sustained harm in contexts that are harder to name; including within same-sex relationships, family members, friendships, and workplaces. Often, the most damaging experiences are the gradual and insidious ones that slowly erode confidence, independence, and trust in our own perceptions.
Reclaim Self is an evidence-based educational program designed to help women to identify and understand harmful relational patterns, to make sense of their impact, to recognise how power dynamics operate over time, and to rebuild a sense of self, agency, and confidence (and importantly, without diagnostic labels, self-blame, or endless analysis of others).
The program draws on contemporary research in coercive control, psychological abuse, power dynamics, and meaning-making. Well-established psychological frameworks are used as educational tools, adapted for self-reflection and learning rather than therapy.
Reclaim Self is for women who:
feel confused, angry, or stuck after a harmful experience
want language and understanding rather than reassurance
are not looking for therapy, coaching, or one-on-one emotional processing support (although may be a useful adjunct alongside counselling following abuse or relationship trauma).
Reclaim Self is not designed as crisis support or treatment.
At its core, this program rests on a simple but powerful truth:
You don’t need to fully conceptualise or diagnose why someone harms, nor to make other’s understand your experience, for you to take your experience seriously, to protect yourself, or to reclaim your life in a way that matters to you.
Reclaim Self is about restoring trust in yourself - your perceptions, your values, your limits, and your resilience - so that harm no longer defines your future.
Reclaim Self will support you to recognise behaviours rooted in entitlement, control, dominance, manipulation, and exploitation; regardless of who is enacting them or in what context.
This includes clear psychoeducation on narcissistic and antagonistic patterns of abuse, while also addressing the limitations of diagnostic labels and why they can keep women stuck once clarity has been achieved.
The emphasis throughout Reclaim Self is on:
understanding what is happening rather than diagnosing who someone is
validating your experience without minimising the harm
strengthening your internal “radar” for future relationships
restoring confidence in your ability to recover and move forward
What will I learn?
The program is structured into modules that can be completed progressively at your own pace, or you can choose specific modules depending on your preferences or needs.
Each module includes:
a 30-minute video delivered in clear, supportive, and validating language
a reading to deepen your understanding of the factors that underly, contribute to, maintain, and perpetuate harm in relationships
reflective and self-development practices designed to support insight, agency, and self-trust
Modules cover:
understanding different forms of harm and abuse
the psychological and nervous system impacts of prolonged relational harm
identifying red flags, green flags, and early warning signs across contexts
navigating decisions about staying, leaving, or restructuring relationships
rebuilding safety, identity, boundaries, and connection
developing confidence in dating, relationships, and life beyond harm — on your own terms
How does it work?
Reclaim Self is education, not therapy.
It does not provide diagnosis, crisis intervention, legal advice, or individual psychological treatment. It is designed to complement — not replace — professional, legal, or crisis supports where those are needed. WiseWOMAN Studio encourages each woman to consider investing in individual counselling with an experienced registered psychologist or counsellor. However we know that psychotherapy may not be desired, or accessible for many, and the Reclaim Self program aims to provide a resource that is available to women who are seeking greater understanding and clarity about the harm they’ve experienced.
What it does offer is something many women haven’t been given:
clear language, accurate understanding, and confidence in her own capacity to reclaim her intrinsic ‘self’ - without the echoes or stories of ‘others’ defining her.
How is it different from therapy?
Reclaim Self Program
