Left Write Hook is a research informed 8-week boxing and writing workshop for adult survivors of child sexual abuse and trauma. The program is designed to empower survivors to take back their power through the physical and creative expressive processes of boxing and writing.

The program was founded by Donna Lyon, PhD, in 2019 at her local boxing gym, FitLife, in Ferntree Gully, Melbourne, Victoria, borne out of her lived experience as a survivor and a fighter.

In 2020, Lyon took the program to the University of Melbourne, whereby she teamed up with a group of interdisciplinary researchers to measure the efficacy of the program. The results demonstrated that the Left Write Hook reduced symptoms of PTSD, depression, stress, and anxiety, while increasing personal agency, resilience, and a sense of belonging. This research brought together a psychologist, gender expert, filmmaker & survivor, with the intention of studying the effects of the program, making a documentary film and producing a book.

Due to COVID, the face-to-face workshops that began in the gym shifted online. Across 2020, Lyon facilitated three workshops, organised by eight-week rounds. She pitched the idea of co-curating a book of the writings generated from the workshops to the group of participants and in 2021, Loving Healing Press, USA came on board as the publisher. Read more about the book.

Donna Lyon and filmmaker/researcher Shannon Owen then turned their attention to the documentary, which has become a model for participatory filmmaking collaboration between the filmmaking team and the project participant/collaborators. The film attracted development funding from VicScreen and secured a production company partnership with Sweetshop & Green to help develop and take the film to market. Through this collaboration, the team received production funding from Screen Australia, VicScreen, University of Melbourne, Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund, and distribution from Bonsai Films. Find out more about the documentary.

In 2022, Donna Lyon set up Left Write Hook as a not-for-profit company so that she could begin to run more workshops for survivors.

Contact the host of Left Write Hook Information Session (in-person)