Standing Up for Your Own Boundaries: A Course on Self-Assertion at Steinmühle Boarding School

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How do I recognize my own boundaries? How do I stand up for them? These and other topics, such as self-assertion and self-defense, were the focus of a workshop for young women at the Steinmühle boarding school. Through this workshop, the organizing association, Wendo Marburg, actively offers encouragement and support to participants aged 16 and older.

Ten young women participated in the two-day course. Through various exercises, they were able to explore their own boundaries and learn to assert them to others.

 

Coping with Everyday Situations

The exercises focused, for example, on personal presentation—both verbal (using the two-sentence method) and nonverbal—as well as on everyday situations that participants could learn to handle through repetition. A safe space for dialogue was created. At the same time, the focus was on assertiveness and self-defense. Working in pairs and small groups, the young women were able to try out and practice various strategies.

 

Mutual Support

Program Director Anne Gebhardt: “It was especially nice to see that the young women continued to talk to one another even in the days following the workshop and, for example, recommended apps to each other within the group so they could continue to support one another beyond the course.”

(Heinm/Photo: KI)