Don Hennessy webinar on Male Intimate Control, late Sept 2026.

They all said I had the most amazing husband, so loving, generous and warm …but they didn’t see him behind closed doors – with his mask off…
— LV

Don has worked in this field for over 30 years. He has written 3 books. Though he is 80yrs old he continues to work passionately to reveal the covert tactics used by the intimate abuser.  He also has developed a process of de-contamination which will help the target woman access her own thoughts. He is currently featuring in podcasts in the USA and UK.

In this 2 hour webinar, Don Hennessy covers how an intimate abuser works, the impact on the target woman, and how we can move our response from support to protection – as therapists or as a person who cares!

Hennessy calls male intimate abusers “psychephiles”. The psychephile is a very controlling man who believes he is entitled to objectify his partner so that he can own her. One of his fundamental goals is to get his sexual needs met without having to negotiate. The psychephile surreptitiously invades the mind of the woman he has selected as a target. He is patient, cunning and skilled in achieving his goal. He modifies his tactics whenever he realises that his current strategies are no longer effective. He is usually several steps ahead of the professionals who in their professional capacity deal with domestic abusers or who interact with abused women. This is true whether the professionals are police, health practitioners, counsellors, social workers, clergy, educators, academics, government officials, solicitors, court officials, or judges.

Hennessy argues that the system needs to protect the target woman, rather than merely offering support to the target woman. Protecting her from physical attack and harassment is not enough. The system needs to protect her mind from the psychephile’s devious and malevolent grooming and re-grooming.

For the system to do this, professionals need to be able to recognise, diagnose and resist the grooming tactics of the psychephile. Psychephiles proactively groom the professionals who work in the field of domestic abuse. Psychephiles groom society as a whole — they groom the whole system. The system needs to stop colluding with male intimate abusers.

Who is Don Hennessy: relationship counselor, author, lecturer 

Don Hennessy is a counsellor who has worked in the domestic violence field in Ireland for many years. He has worked with male perpetrators and with their target women. His insight into the tactics and strategies of male intimate abusers will be helpful for even seasoned practitioners in the field. At the age of 80 he is still going strong.

His experience includes interacting directly with both victims of domestic violence and 1000+ abusers. As a result of his personal experience and research he has acquired profound insights into the deliberate and effective tactics some men use “to enslave the women who love them.” His research and insights are supported by fellow colleagues and have been considered on the national level in Ireland.

As a relationship counsellor, Don Hennessy was one of six founders of The Cork Domestic Violence Project which was initiated in 1991 by the Cork Marriage Counselling Centre in Cork, Ireland. He later became the director of the National Domestic Violence Intervention Agency in Ireland.

He has written three books as of now. The first book How He Gets Into Her Head (2012), the second book Steps to Freedom (2018), and the third book How He Wins (2020). His books are different from most ‘sympathy’ and ‘support’ books which rely on the target woman to protect herself. Instead, it talks directly to the target woman while she is being controlled and hopes to give her the permission and the skills to protect her mind and her soul.

Register for the webinar: DON HENNESSY – Male intimate control – How and Why it works

Booking by using the form for direct booking. No refund when booked unless cancelled by the facilitator.
If questions, contact Liv Vadum by email vadum@online.no

More about on Don Hennessy:

Don Hennessy playlist on YouTube

Don Hennessy Digest — all posts about Don Hennessy at this blog.