More Information
Publication Date: 21 Mar 2019
Publisher: SPCK Publishing
Words: 80000
Page Count: 288
Author: Natalie Collins
ISBN-13: 9780281078905, 9780281078912

Out of Control

Couples, Conflict and the Capacity for Change
By Natalie Collins
A fully comprehensive book on domestic abuse, offering theological content, personal story and practical advice
In stock
ISBN-13
9780281078905-grouped
Paperback
£13.99
eBook
£13.99
Grouped product items

Summary of Out of Control

All of us will be familiar with supporting friends, family and colleagues through the ups and downs of relationships. But could some of the more difficult times of argument and conflict be more than general relationship issues? Is there something more sinister going on?

Over the course of a lifetime, 30% of women and 16% of men will be subjected to abuse by a partner, yet so many of us are unsure exactly what constitutes domestic abuse, and wouldn't know how to react if we, or one of our friends or family, found ourselves in a relationship with an abuser.

Natalie Collins is the perfect guide to lead you through this subject, amassing over a decade's experience leading workshops, raising awareness and capturing national media attention in her work against domestic abuse.

Highly readable, invaluably insightful and steeped in theological insight, Natalie starts right from the basics, exploring what domestic abuse is, why it is perpetrated and the impact it has on children and adults. Filled with case studies, including Natalie's own story, this book offers much-needed advice on how we can address domestic abuse, both as individuals and as a church community.
Related Posts 3
  1. Loneliness Awareness Week 2022: what can faith teach us about isolation and despair? Loneliness Awareness Week 2022: what can faith teach us about isolation and despair? For Loneliness Awareness Week 2022, we’re highlighting some of our books that speak profoundly to mental illness, and how to pursue faith amid loneliness and lament.
  2. 20% Off Mental Health Resources 20% Off Mental Health Resources May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we've put together a selection of SPCK titles that encourage and support mental health, from inspirational biographies to insightful books on mindfulness and self-care. All 20% Off this month!
  3. Weep with Those Who Weep - Online Conversation 8th April 2021 Weep with Those Who Weep - Online Conversation 8th April 2021 Join Elaine Storkey, Natalie Collins, Genelle Aldred and Rob Merchant for an online conversation on 8th April on Zoom Webinar.

About the Author of Out of Control

Natalie Collins has been working to address domestic abuse issues for over a decade, working directly with women subjected to abuse and domestic abuse perpetrators, and training ordinands, church leaders and congregations on domestic abuse issues. She has delivered keynote addresses both nationally and internationally on the subject, and has spoken alongside Archbishops and UN representatives. Natalie is also the founder of the ‘Fifty Shades is Domestic Abuse’ campaign and has appeared on national television, radio and printed media talking about abuse, consent and women’s rights.

She has further written several articles and book contributions on domestic violence, and is the author of the widely used domestic abuse pack for UK churches, the Restored Church Pack.
Press Reviews

No-one who has met Natalie Collins will be surprised at this book. It is authentically hers, full of energy, insight, quirks and personal narrative. Few people can pepper a serious, even scholarly, book on domestic abuse with comments that leave you laughing out loud! But finding humour in tragedy is Natalie’s great gift, as is her refusal to be cowed by what she has gone through. This book is both realistic and hopeful, opening a window on abusers and abused, not least by Natalie’s personification of the ‘tactics of torture.’ The profiles of abusing partners, and the struggles of those who suffer will be soberly familiar to many. Written with Christian wisdom and vigour, Natalie’s up to date, well-researched, and ‘must-read’ book challenges us all to work ever harder towards the eradication of violence against women.

- Elaine Storkey, Theologian, Philosopher, Broadcaster and Author

Out of Control is a call to action; at times funny, touching, insightful, challenging and profoundly disturbing… without doubt this is a must read for every church leader.

- Kate Coleman, Founder and co-director of Next Leadership

When I first began to review books, two decades ago, I was a jobbing pastor, and took a vow that I would never write ‘every pastor should read this book’—the life is too busy, and too varied, for that ever to be true. Or so I thought. Today I repent: every pastor should read Natalie Collins’s book, and should give it to their leaders to read as well. Domestic violence is an enormous hidden plague that infects every community, and every congregation, in the land, and Natalie exposes the reality of this, and points to practical steps we can all take to help.

Even better, Natalie communicates out of deep expertise, but simply, even colloquially. And all her passion, all her hope, all her joy, all her humour, are present in this book. It is a magnificent achievement, and it matters. Read it!

- Dr Stephen Holmes, Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology, University of St Andrews

The book is well-researched and accessibly written. It is full of information which would be useful for those in abusive relationships, those who seek to intervene in such relationships, and those who ought to be intervening – such as church leaders. As a survivor of domestic abuse, Collins speaks with clarity and honesty about her own story.

- Helen Paynter

I can’t merely describe this as informative, well-researched and practical. It’s also jarring and prophetic. Equally, to take such suffering, face it down, push back against it and raise a prophetic cry for others to hear, is nothing short of heroic. This book oozes with courage, wisdom and hope.

Bottom line: Collins has written a much needed, must-read for anybody who’s interested in creating and curating a better world.

- Tristan Sherwin, author of Love: Expressed

Form Books