This Coercive Control and Mental Health Awareness course is designed for health, social care, mental health, housing and related practitioners who may encounter domestic abuse through their work. It explores how coercive control can affect a person’s freedom, safety and wellbeing, and why abuse can sometimes be difficult to recognise when someone is also experiencing mental health difficulties.
This free course covers the definition and legal context of domestic abuse and coercive control, common tactics and mental health effects, indicators and barriers to disclosure, safe and sensitive enquiry, responding to disclosures, referral pathways, recording and information sharing, safeguarding responsibilities and multi-agency working.
Why Take This eLearning Course?
Domestic abuse does not always involve visible physical harm. Coercive behaviour may develop as a pattern of isolation, monitoring, intimidation, economic restriction or control over healthcare and everyday choices. For practitioners, understanding these patterns can support safer conversations, better recognition of concerns and appropriate action within professional boundaries.
This course will help you to:
- Recognise patterns of coercive control beyond physical violence.
- Understand how domestic abuse may affect mental health and emotional wellbeing.
- Consider why abuse can be hidden within an existing mental health presentation.
- Identify factors that can increase vulnerability or make disclosure more difficult.
- Recognise possible indicators without treating individual signs as proof of abuse.
- Approach sensitive enquiry in a private, respectful and safer way.
- Respond appropriately when someone discloses domestic abuse.
- Recognise circumstances requiring urgent advice, safeguarding action or escalation.
- Understand referral, recording and information-sharing considerations.
- Work effectively within professional boundaries and multi-agency arrangements.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Define domestic abuse and coercive control and describe common forms of abusive behaviour.
- Explain the legal context relevant to controlling and coercive behaviour.
- Describe common mental health effects associated with domestic abuse.
- Explain how mental health diagnoses can affect recognition and disclosure of abuse.
- Identify possible indicators, vulnerability factors and barriers to disclosure.
- Describe how different service settings can affect the safety of sensitive enquiry.
- Apply the principles of private, respectful and non-judgemental enquiry.
- Outline an appropriate first response, referral pathway and escalation process.
- Explain good practice in recording, information sharing and safeguarding.
- Describe professional role boundaries and the importance of coordinated multi-agency working.
Coercive Control and Mental Health Awareness – Course Content Outline
The course is organised into six modules, moving from recognition and mental health awareness through to safe enquiry, disclosure, referral, safeguarding and coordinated professional responses.
Module 1: Understanding Domestic Abuse and Coercive Control
Learners will explore the statutory definition of domestic abuse and the different behaviours it can include, including controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological or emotional abuse. The module examines common tactics such as isolation, intimidation, monitoring, economic restriction and interference with healthcare, with an emphasis on recognising patterns of power and control rather than isolated incidents. Learners will also develop awareness of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and the criminal law relating to controlling or coercive behaviour, including the importance of recognising concerns without attempting to determine whether a criminal offence has occurred.
Module 2: Domestic Abuse and Mental Health
Learners will examine how domestic abuse may be associated with depression, anxiety, trauma responses, sleep difficulties, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and changes in alcohol or substance use, while recognising that these experiences can have many causes. The module considers how an existing diagnosis can sometimes obscure possible abuse, how perpetrators may exploit mental health difficulties or question a person’s credibility, and why people using mental health services may face additional barriers linked with care, medication, finances, transport or housing. It also reinforces that mental illness should never be used to assume whether someone is a victim or perpetrator.
Module 3: Recognising Indicators and Barriers to Disclosure
Learners will consider possible indicators of domestic abuse within mental health and related practice, including unexplained changes in wellbeing, increased fearfulness, isolation and controlling behaviour around appointments, medication, money or communication. The module examines common barriers to disclosure, including fear of retaliation, shame, stigma, emotional attachment, practical dependence, concerns about children and fear of not being believed. Learners will also explore how inpatient, primary care, community, housing, home-visit and remote settings can affect privacy and the safety of disclosure.
Module 4: Safe and Sensitive Enquiry
Learners will explore recommendations for asking about domestic abuse, including the principles reflected in NICE public health guidance for trained staff in mental health services. The module considers privacy, one-to-one enquiry, sensitive questioning, confidentiality and safe communication methods. Learners will examine principles illustrated by the IRIS model, including staff training, specialist support and clear referral pathways, before considering common mistakes such as asking questions in front of a potentially controlling person, confronting an alleged perpetrator, pressuring someone to leave, using unsafe communication channels or promising absolute confidentiality.
Module 5: Responding, Referring and Recording
Learners will develop an understanding of an appropriate first response when domestic abuse is disclosed, including listening carefully, acknowledging the person’s account, exploring support wishes and checking immediate safety. The module identifies circumstances that may require urgent clinical, safeguarding, specialist or emergency escalation and introduces referral routes involving specialist domestic abuse services, IDVAs and, where appropriate, MARAC processes. It also considers the role and limitations of risk tools such as DASH. Learners will explore how to make factual, proportionate records, consider safe access to information and make information-sharing decisions in line with professional responsibilities and organisational procedures.
Module 6: Safeguarding, Professional Boundaries and Multi-Agency Working
Learners will examine how domestic abuse can intersect with both child and adult safeguarding responsibilities, including the position of children who see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse and the circumstances in which adult safeguarding duties may apply in England. The module explains the importance of following local procedures, seeking safeguarding or specialist advice and recognising when emergency action is required. Learners will also consider the limits of an awareness-level practitioner’s role and the value of coordinated working between mental health services, primary care, social care, housing, specialist domestic abuse services, safeguarding teams and other relevant agencies.
Target Audience
This course is suitable for:
- Mental health practitioners and support staff.
- Health and social care professionals.
- Primary care and community-based staff.
- Housing and homelessness practitioners.
- Safeguarding and support workers.
- Other frontline professionals who may encounter people affected by domestic abuse.
No previous specialist knowledge is required.
FAQ
Who is this course suitable for?
The course is suitable for professionals and support staff who may encounter domestic abuse or coercive control through mental health, health, social care, housing, safeguarding or other frontline services. It is particularly useful for awareness-level practitioners who need to recognise concerns and respond appropriately within their role.
Do I need any previous experience?
No specialist domestic abuse knowledge is required. The course introduces the key concepts, indicators, responsibilities and practical approaches needed to develop a sound awareness of coercive control and its relationship with mental health.
What will I learn on this coercive control and mental health course?
You will learn how coercive control can operate as a pattern of behaviour, how domestic abuse may affect mental health, why abuse can sometimes be hidden within a mental health presentation and how practitioners can recognise indicators, ask sensitively, respond to disclosure and follow suitable referral or safeguarding pathways.
Will this course help with day-to-day practice?
Yes. The course focuses on situations practitioners may encounter during appointments, assessments, community contact, housing work, home visits and remote consultations. It supports safer recognition, communication, escalation and referral while reinforcing appropriate professional boundaries.
Does the course cover practical skills?
The course provides practical guidance on recognising possible indicators, creating opportunities for private enquiry, asking sensitive questions, responding to a disclosure, considering immediate safety and using local referral and escalation procedures. It is an awareness course rather than training to investigate allegations or independently undertake specialist domestic abuse risk assessments.
Does it cover relevant responsibilities or good practice?
Yes. The course considers the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, controlling or coercive behaviour, NICE recommendations on enquiry, safeguarding considerations, appropriate information sharing, safe recording, referral pathways and professional role boundaries. Learners are encouraged to apply these principles alongside their organisation’s local policies and procedures.
How does mental health affect the recognition of domestic abuse?
Mental health symptoms or an existing diagnosis can sometimes become the main explanation for changes in a person’s presentation. The course explains why practitioners should remain alert to relationships, safety and patterns of control without assuming that domestic abuse is present or treating mental illness as evidence of a person’s role within an abusive relationship.
How long does the course take?
The course is self-paced and usually takes around 1 hour to complete.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. A certificate is issued after successful completion.
Understanding coercive control alongside mental health can help practitioners recognise concerns that might otherwise be overlooked and respond in a safer, more informed and proportionate way. This course provides a clear foundation for identifying possible abuse, supporting disclosure, following appropriate pathways and contributing to coordinated professional practice.
Enrol now to build your understanding of coercive control and mental health.
