As a part of its Intervention Centre service, Spondea, a public benefit organization, has always strived to provide a wide range of services improving the quality of life of its clients. We offer assistance in the struggle for a life without violence but also with extra services based on grant projects – legal assistance, long-term psychological care, and lately also career counselling. From our experience we know that one of the side effects of domestic violence is a limited ability to succeed in the job market. A victim’s resources is often exhausted due to the experienced violence and thus unable to enter the job market, change jobs or even perform adequately in their current job. Many clients are long-term unemployed a dependent on social benefits; many have been restrained by their violent partner in their efforts to keep a job, restrained in their social contacts. All of this limits their ability to succeed in the job market. Thanks to a grant project “The Path from Violence to Dignity and Self-Sufficiency” we could start providing systematic individual and group career counselling to domestic violence victims. The author’s long-term experience with both career counselling and domestic violence counselling was a key advantage in the beginning. As it shows, domestic violence victims have specific characteristics when it comes to career counselling and these need to be considered. Often, acute trauma is present, and it is necessary to decide the timing and sequence of psychological interventions and career counselling. Amotivation and passivity are frequently present bringing motivation and empowerment of our clients to the forefront of our career counselling.
