Women’s Emotional Abuse Recovery

“Is his behaviour my fault?

“Dear Annie,
How do I know for sure if my emotionally abusive partner is not just behaving like a typical man who gets defensive and shuts down when he hurts me because he wants to be  my hero but feels disappointed that he failed so he lashes out? I get newsletters that say: “Is your man being […]

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“When he says he’ll change…”

When an emotionally abusive man says he’ll change, what does it mean?
Two things: it means that he realizes he’s gone too far, this time, and he wants to reel his emotionally abused partner back in.
And it means that an emotionally abused woman is teetering on the brink of calling time on the relationship.  She’s teetering… […]

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How could you describe emotional abuse?

How could you describe emotional abuse?  How do you describe the indescribable?  
And yet, there is a need to describe it – not so much to other people in your life as to yourself – in such a way that you get what it’s really about, and how it has played out in your life.  […]

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“I Know What You’re Going To Say…”

When Emily said: “I know what you’re going to say”, it threw me.  I hadn’t the faintest idea what she would say next – let alone what I might say. “I know what you’re going to say” is often used as a pre-emptive strike.  The person saying it is anticipating either: “I told you so”, […]

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The Hardest Thing Of All

This week, I’ve spoken with several emotionally abused women about Parental Estrangement Syndrome (PES).    I believe it is an important enough topic to share because, unfortunately, it happens to a lot of women.  It may well be the hardest thing to deal with for any parent .
Let’s start with a working definition: Parental Estrangement Syndrome occurs […]

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“You Can Have Anything You Want…”

 

You can have anything, ANYTHING, you want.”  That’s what my dad said to me.  I was 8 years old, and it was the only time he ever said it to me, in my whole life. 
He wasn’t tapping into his spiritual side – he wasn’t that sort of man. Nor was he encouraging me to go […]

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“What Would An Emotionally Abusive Man Do?”

When you’ve been in an emotionally abusive relationship for a while, it’s easy to imagine that every relationship is like an emotionally abusive relationship, and everyone’s partner behaves the way your emotionally abusive partner does.
This week a client – let’s call her Glenda – sent me one of those ‘tip of the iceberg’ questions: “Aren’t all long-term relationships […]

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“What’s his agenda?”

“Am I the emotionally abusive partner in this relationship?” Emma asked anxiously.  She had dared to object to the way her partner was behaving towards her.  His reply was that she was emotionally abusive towards him, which meant she was responsible for his behavior.  
Could it be true?  Could she have been the emotionally abusive […]

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Why Nancy Felt Good About Leaving Her Emotionally Abusive Partner

Nancy’s email was short and sweet. She ‘just wanted to let me know she felt good about having left her emotionally abusive husband’. 
Hooray! 
It certainly hadn’t been easy for her – not that it ever is.  She’d had to turn her child’s world upside down  – you can imagine the guilt she felt about that –  […]

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Why Valentine’s Day Sucks

I don’t know how you feel about it, but my decades on the planet have led me to the conclusion that…
Valentine’s Day sucks.
I believe it sucks whether you’re in a relationship, and have a man in your life, or whether you don’t.
It sucked, for me, when I was single, because I never got enough ‘Worship […]

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The 5 Simple Steps to Healing from Narcissistic Abuse

Over the next 5 days, I'll send you some lessons and tips that I've found have really helped women to heal from narcissistic abuse.  Starting with the basics.