OUR MISSION:
IMPACT builds safety from the inside out. We teach people of all ages and abilities the critical emotional and physical skills necessary to prevent violence, make safe choices, and live with greater confidence. IMPACT believes everyone can be safer.
ABOUT US:
IMPACT Safety, a program of LifeCare Alliance, is a personal safety and violence prevention program that uses a comprehensive empowerment Self-defense Toolbox. IMPACT Safety teaches curricula based on researched and proven strategies. We have been serving Columbus and its surrounding areas since 1993.
OUR APPROACH:
All programming is based on an understanding of how our different experiences inform our needs for personal and collective safety. We practice trauma-informed care and help participants identify what they can do, not what they can’t. We understand that empowered self-defense is part of a comprehensive strategy that can reduce sexual assault, increase personal agency and work towards building a community where power based violence — in any form — is not tolerated.
We coach participants through scenario based experiences of anxiety and fear, so they learn how to respond rather than react when faced with these types of situations. IMPACT programs are trauma informed – taking great care to honor individual’s experiences and choice. Additionally, IMPACT programs are based on current research and best practices in the fields of, neuropsycho-biology, criminal behavior, empowerment self defesne, sexual assault, domestic violence, and developmental learning pedagocy.
Our staff teach people of all ages and abilities the critical emotional and physical skills necessary to reduce risk, prevent violence, make safe choices, and live with greater confidence. IMPACT offers programming that teaches skills useful for both every day and uncommon situations.
OUR VALUES:
We believe that everyone has the right to be safe and treated with respect regardless of ability, race, social class, gender identity, sexual preference, age, or physical strength.
IMPACT also prioritizes trauma-informed training. The damage of an emotional, physical, verbal or sexual assault requires sensitivity and understanding. IMPACT training approaches each individual in totality, so that physical, emotional, and psychological skills can be rewired, practiced and supported.
OUR PROGRAMMING:
IMPACT programs carefully expose students to real life scenarios. Programs provide people with strategies so that when faced with “fight, flight or freeze” responses; people have the skills to respond, not just react. Students practice with certified instructors; one who simulates someone with negative intentions, while the other serves as Coach, supporting the practice of new skills. Our workshops include:
- A continuum of verbal skills that include de-escalation and assertive conflict management.
- Awareness and recognition of real warning signs of danger.
- The embodiment of power and competence in the face of challenging situations.
- The social context of violence and the accountability of perpetrators.
- Communication skills that help set and negotiate boundaries.
- The management of adrenaline/stress.
- Ally skills.
OUR INSTRUCTORS:
IMPACT Safety staff are Certified Impact Self-Defense Instructors, who have each completed more than 150 training hours. Staff are versed in physical, verbal and sexual abuse/assault awareness and prevention.
Most of our programs are team-taught by a “Whistle” Instructor and a “Suited” Instructor. They work together to provide a comprehensive experience for students.
The Whistle Instructor demonstrates and teaches verbal, non-verbal and physical techniques, facilitates group discussions, models techniques against a mock assailant, and coaches students during their scenarios.
The Suited Instructor wears especially designed protective gear and plays the role of an assailant, a stranger or most often someone known to us, who is behaving badly. The suited instructor, brings reality to scenarios, which allow students to practice verbal boundary setting techniques to full – force physical self defense .
The core outcome of all IMPACT programs, is that participants leave with an increased sense of both physical and emotional personal boundaries. Participants gain a deepened understanding of their boundaries and increased choices for addressing situations where their boundaries may be crossed.
To learn more, email us at info@impactsafety.org
