Finding Our Voices launches healthy dating initiative on MDI

Ericka Witham’s psychology students at MDI High School were the first in Maine to participate in the 2026 Finding Our Voices Love/not Love classroom project. Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder of the nonprofit, is kneeling in front with a yellow scarf. Keeling behind her on the right are the co-facilitators of Friday’s presentation, Liz Cutler and COA Student Amelia Hoag.

Originally Published by MDIslander
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January 13, 2026

BAR HARBOR — Students on Mount Desert Island were the first in Maine to benefit from an innovative and relatable domestic violence prevention program developed by Finding Our Voices, when the grassroots nonprofit launched its 2026 classroom tour at MDI High School on Jan. 9, according to a press release.

Zoe, Brady and Zuzu show their Pop Culture wheels documenting abusive behaviors they uncovered in the TV show “Dexter.”

The program in Ericka Witham’s psychology class started with a 20-year-old relating the emotional terrorizing they experienced by their intimate partner as a high school student. Then, the students were invited to come up with a pop culture couple who seemed to have an unhealthy relationship, and work together in groups to identify the abusive behaviors.

The students’ reference source was the Power and Control Wheel, a classic device created in the 1980s that displays tactics that abusers use to get and keep control of their intimate partners.

Said one student about the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast after completing the project, “It’s kind of crazy this is a kid’s movie because kids watching it might think this [kind of behavior by the Beast to Belle] is OK.” Students focusing on country singer Zach Bryan and influencer Brianna LePaglia noted the inferred electronic stalking by Zach “spamming her to figure out where she is” and isolation of “limiting her seeing family and friends.”

MDI High School students figure out abusive dating behaviors during the Finding Our Voices Love/not Love project.

Amelia Hoag, a College of the Atlantic student, and Liz Cutler, the artist/founder of ArtWaves, led the MDI event with Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices.

Cutler said the Pop Culture Wheel project, “gave everyone in the classroom a common language, all looking at dating abuse through a new lens. It was amazing to see the students so energized and also, by the end of their time working on it, so bonded.”

Other Hancock County high school visits this winter and spring by Finding Our Voices include Sumner Memorial in Sullivan, and George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill. The group’s 15 upcoming classroom visits span the state from Sanford in York County to Baileyville in Washington County. The program includes a Maine Standards-compliant curriculum developed by Finding Our Voices that is provided to teachers to set the stage for the classroom visits.

To inquire about bringing the group’s free and survivor-informed program to your school or town, contact Patrisha McLean at hello@findingourvoices.net

Finding Our Voices is the grassroots and survivor-powered nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse across Maine, with resources to its sister-survivors including financial assistance, access to free dental care, and an online support group that just celebrated its five-year anniversary. For more information visit https://findingourvoices.net