Helping men to heal

She Is Not Your Rehab
Passionate. Compassionate. Dedicated.

Matt Brown is working hard to end the cycle of domestic and family violence.

He started She Is Not Your Rehab, a movement to encourage men to deal with their own experiences of childhood abuse instead of taking it out on their wives and girlfriends.

"The movement is simply an invitation for men to acknowledge their own childhood trauma and to take responsibility for their healing instead of transmitting it on those around them," Matt says.

She Is Not Your Rehab was launched on TEDx in 2019 and complements Matt's efforts to help men through his barbershop, My Father's Barber.

Matt shares his own story of childhood abuse, which encourages men to be open about their childhood trauma

In collaboration with a family violence service, he hosts anti-violence groups to give men access to free therapy and support.

"Every day we get emails sharing how it is impacting men and their whanau," Matt says.

The number of men seeking help has increased since She Is Not Your Rehab started taking off on social media.

"Men are coming to our group counselling session and making the first step in acknowledging their trauma," Matt says.

"Our communities are crying out for help, support and tools to see these cycles of abuse and trauma come to an end."

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. She Is Not Your Rehab will use its grant to run more local group therapy sessions for men.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here