Spotting Emotionally Abusive Behaviors Part ii

Emotionally abusive partners have a real talent for making you feel small. One thing all emotionally abused women struggle to understand is that their agenda is totally different from your agenda. They don’t want you to have what you want: they want you to have what they want. Ultimately, what they want for you, is […]

Spotting Emotionally Abusive Behaviors Part I

When you’re on the receiving end of an emotionally abusive relationship, it can feel impossible to get your head around what’s happening. Because your emotionally abusive partner behaves in ways that defy logic, and common sense, you constantly feel hurt and amazed. You take it all personally. And because you’re so busy taking it personally, […]

“Emotional abuse is hard to recognise because…

Emotionally abused women often say: “It took me years to realize it was emotional abuse. It’s really hard to recognise an emotionally abusive partner’s behavior for what it is, because it’s just so subtle.” 
That’s a common belief, but it’s not helpful. If you believe emotional abuse is really hard to recognise, then you’re at risk, […]

How NOT To End An Emotionally Abusive Relationship

The time finally comes when you decide you have tn end an emotionally abusive relationship. You finally admit to yourself that your emotionally abusive partner is not going to turn into Prince Charming before the turn of the next millennium. So, regretfully, you make the decision that you’ll have to leave him. After all, he’s […]

Too frightened to leave an emotionally abusive husband?

An emotionally abusive husband will make your life a living hell.  You’ll come to dread a certain look on his face, the silence that means he’s incubating another outburst, the sound of his key in the front door. He’ll create an unsafe environment where you know the next attack could come at any moment. He’ll […]

Emotional abuse and Amanda Holden

Yesterday saw a strange piece in a UK tabloid about Amanda Holden, a UK celebrity talent show Judge. It contained all sorts of seemingly inexplicable statements, including this about her initial response to her first husband, comedian and actor Les Dennis: 
“I thought he was a bit of a miserable sod. The more I got to […]

Did your emotionally abusive partner blame you?

Did your emotionally abusive partner blame you much? It’s almost a silly question, isn’t it? Blame is such an integral part of emotional abuse. Better questions might be: “What did he blame you for?” and “What didn’t he blame you for?” 
If you’ve ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship, you’ll know – though you may […]

How an emotionally abusive relationship breaks your heart

Most people just don’t get what an emotionally abusive relationship does to you. They tell you to leave your emotionally abusive partner. From where they stand, on the sidelines, it’s very easy to think clearly, and offer ‘good advice’. 
They feel very comfortable stating what’s obvious to them. No matter that’s it’s not obvious to you, […]

“How do you explain ending an emotionally abusive relationship to people?”

 Picture this: you’ve stayed in your emotionally abusive relationship until it got so bad that you had to leave.  It took you a long, long time to reach the decision, and stop blaming yourself.  But the day finally came when you realized that your husband was emotionally abusive, and you knew you had to do […]

Boundaries for Emotionally Abused Women

Boundaries are not the strongest suit of emotionally abused women. In fact, they could well be the weakest one. 
It’s not that emotionally abused women don’t know they should have boundaries – you can talk as knowledgeably about the need for boundaries as the next person. It’s just that you don’t know how you could […]