Billy is a mean bastard. He has a lot on his mind. He isn’t getting shifts. His missus is nagging him for petrol money. Didn’t he already give her some?

Billy gets a beer, tries to relax, but she won’t let it rest. Won’t get off his back. So he stands over her. Holds her down. Yells in her scared little face. Grabs her skinny shoulders and squeezes, nice and hard.

Eyes wild, he screams some more. Kicks her out and locks the door.

Billy is a mean bastard. He is also not real. Billy is a hypothetical case being discussed in group therapy by real men, who have found themselves in similar situations.

The task before them – “mapping the incident” – is simple. Highlight the facts. Identify what Billy was thinking, then feeling, then what his partner felt.

One by one, they say what went through Billy's mind …

“Shut the fuck up,” offers Andrew.

“What’s she done with my money?” asks Aaron.

“She’s lying to me,” says Garry, nodding.

“How dare you?” says Allan, shaking his head.

The men know how Billy thinks. They've been there. They are domestic violence offenders but they want to change, so they’ve come here – to a facility unlike any other in Australia.


They’ve come to Communicare Breathing Space, in suburban Perth, the only full-time residential men's behaviour change program in the southern hemisphere.

Most programs aimed at correcting the behaviour of violent men are once a week, or ad hoc, often court ordered. But the men who come here do so voluntarily, committed to a three month stay that includes four hours of group therapy every day, along with case management and counselling – a 12-bed, 24-hour “therapeutic community”.

They sometimes come wearing correctional anklets, or with bail conditions and restraining orders. But they also come of their own accord, referred by a community group or counsellor, often after a violent incident.

This group continues mapping the mind of Billy, during his imaginary outburst.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“I’m not finished with you yet!”

“I’ll fucking hit you.”