I often hear domestic violence survivors complain that the counselor they are seeing with their partner has sided with him/her. These victims expected to seek therapeutic remedy for the dysfunction that they live, and they discover they have gained another “enemy.”
Here are some things you ... Views: 1409
Domestic violence help comes in all shapes and sizes. There is the crisis hotline to get you where you need to go ASAP. Then, there are the community domestic abuse support groups that assure you that “you are not alone.”
Your domestic violence shelter will give you all the resources for your ... Views: 1250
For almost every battered woman and abused man I work with, there is a layman’s label attached to the core of their self-perception. This label is typically bestowed upon them by their battering partner or by allies supporting his/her plight to save face and to discredit and silence the ... Views: 1685
As a psychologist, domestic abuse consultant and one who has known domestic violence personally, I’m frequently approached by battered women for “psychological truth.” They are eager to know if the names and labels given to them by their abusive partners, or by the court agents acting on their ... Views: 1438
Some wounds are so severe that words cannot capture their complete pain. Being pushed out of one’s children’s lives or the lives of your grandchildren is one of these.
When this is yours, the depths of it take your breath away. I hear women tell me the cries that come out of them over their ... Views: 991
We know it happens; yet when we see it, we’re in shock. And when we experience it, we’re numb. How can a family member, who once claimed to cherish you, plot to back you into a fabricated psychiatric label and sentence of craziness?
That is the question that dumbfounds anyone who walks in these ... Views: 3880
Domestic abuse victims heal and transform themselves at different rates. You can tell when their recovery process remains in progress, yet to be completed. And if you are a domestic violence survivor, you know when you’re still wearing that “I’m a Victim” hat.
Here are some tell-tale signs that ... Views: 1463
Privileged communication and expert witness testimony are two areas that battered women and abused men may come to know in their divorce proceedings. However, the way in which these two interact is not always clear. And unfortunately for some the consequences pose a significant loss.
This ... Views: 1086
If the system is broken, how can you make it work for you? This is a question that puzzles battered women in family court.
They show up expecting the court to protect the rights of their children and themselves, only to discover that it becomes an uphill battle to simply defend against losing ... Views: 1080
Many women say they where glad when their partners hit them, because in that moment the light went “on” and they knew exactly what they were dealing with: domestic abuse, intimate partner violence.
But for abused men, the physical abuse doesn’t always turn the light “on.” More often it sends ... Views: 1442
I can remember twenty years ago having an elitist attitude about how I found my doctors. I only saw a doctor by referral. I was not the kind of person to find a doctor in the yellow pages. And I was accustomed to patients seeking me out through referral. Roughly 90% of my patients came to me ... Views: 1265
We know that domestic abuse survivors endure the tremendous pressure of their controlling partners. And they become accustomed to manipulation as a means to fulfill one’s personal needs.
It’s no wonder that manipulation becomes a method of choice when it comes to meeting their own individual ... Views: 1192
Being a domestic violence survivor is quite a job, but navigating the system to secure your safety can feel like a life sentence.
You expect the system to “protect” you and your children. And when you see your case and your cause given lip service over actual remedy-providing service, you ... Views: 1118
Domestic violence is hard enough to endure in and of itself. Then there’s the “getting out” part that is in some cases harder. The saddest, though, is the price the victim sometimes pays for her* peace, safety and freedom.
For some survivors this is her sanity, for others it may be her contact ... Views: 1134
Verbal abuse, as well as emotional abuse, result in wounds and scars deep within. In the following interview we look at the impact upon the victim and offer recommendations for her surviving and thriving beyond the battering.
The following is part two of an interview with Kate Carlson, OTR/L ... Views: 1541
Institutionalizing battered women in psychiatric hospitals is as old as prostitution. It’s an effective way to silence and discredit them.
In My Own Practice
I remember a case over 20 years ago in my own practice of a patient referred by a social worker for a stress-related neuromuscular ... Views: 995
If I tell you that you are “crazy” and threaten to punish you because of what I have said, a part of you begins to question that maybe what I have alleged is true.
Crazy-Making from the Outside In
Then, if I tell someone in authority that you are “crazy” and consequently they set forth to ... Views: 1010
The use of psychology or psychiatry to contain and control a family member (or close friend) is almost as old as psychiatry itself. Not well publicized, however a practice that dates back decades.
From time to time, you may see a person wearing a psychiatric diagnosis that was inspired by the ... Views: 1083
Oftentimes battered women leave abusers only to find out that they are in an abusive relationship with their own divorce lawyer. And unfortunately, many spend as long awakening to this reality as they did admitting the abuse they endured by their former intimate partner.
Here are some seduction ... Views: 961
Verbal abuse in marriage makes for a toxic home. You feel it in the air, smell it in your living space, see its brutal impact on yourself as well as on little ones dependent upon you.
You know this from the core of your being, yet when victimized by verbal abuse in marriage, there is a tendency ... Views: 1459
We hear a lot about the “he said, she said” when it comes to relationship violence. The challenge for advocates and interventionists is to accurately ascertain, not only “who did what” but even more revealing, what are the underlying dynamics inspiring the altercations between the ... Views: 1201
You are not his/her words, though it doesn’t feel that way when you are being abused. On a very deep level, you believe those words of disregard, disapproval, disrespect…even the ones that are absolutely foul.
Yet, in a more surface way, you claim not to buy that trash. You know those are just ... Views: 3821
Habits are habitual, aren’t they? This is so true for the “being battered” habit. It is as though you come to expect punishment not only when in his/her presence, but also long after your abusive partner is out of the room, out of your house or even out of your life.
If you are a survivor of ... Views: 1262
Domestic violence is best known before it comes knocking at your door. College World Reporter Donell Edwards interviews domestic abuse consulting expert Dr. Jeanne King, Ph.D. to help educate young college women about domestic violence.
1) DONELL EDWARDS: In recent weeks, the alleged attack of ... Views: 1060
Verbal abuse is toxic, especially when you are on the receiving end. It can wear you down, burn you out, and literally change the way you think and feel about yourself. But it doesn’t have to...
Here are some insights that will help you hold your own in the face of verbal abuse.
1) Know that ... Views: 1222
When domestic violence is before the court, fortified with finance and politics, the net result is the protective parent is about punishment and the children are about abuse.
Sound strange? If you’re living it, the strange nightmare while twisted is ever so true.
Far too often when domestic ... Views: 1171
The mind-emotion-body connection is something some of us take for granted, while others remain in awe. I do both.
Now here is a little psychological insight that will open doors for your recovery from psychological, mental and emotional abuse.
Go ahead and get your coffee or herbal tea ... Views: 1150
We hear it all the time: “You’re not responsible for your abuser’s battering behavior.” Yet, victims of domestic abuse spend an inordinate amount of time trying to alter this behavior. Fix it. Change it. Account for it.
Often, and usually unknowingly, this invites three deadly mistakes victims ... Views: 1534
Why do domestic abuse victims see the abuse dynamic in their home, but fail to recognize it in their divorce proceedings?
The answer to this question is the same answer to the question, “Why doesn’t she awaken to the abuse in her home?” You know the answer: she is part of the very dynamic for ... Views: 1241
A controlling parent can have as much a crippling effect on an adult child as on an intimate partner. And I’m sure you know why.
But help for that adult child is touch and go. There are no shelters for them, yet they have many of the same financial issues as battered women.
If they haven’t ... Views: 1739
In helping people negotiate child custody and visitation schedules, I’ve come to see a pattern express itself in terms of parents’ desire for their children to have equal access to both parents.
The moment I see resistance to equal access to both parents based on what a parent “may” do without ... Views: 961
Abuse is fundamentally about control. Violence may be a manifestation of relationship abuse, but domestic abuse is really about control. And the perpetrator can’t bear to be out of control. When perpetrators feel they are losing control, their means to exercise control escalates.
What are the ... Views: 1218
If your home consists of one (or more) parent that batters, chances are higher that your children will acquire the same tendency to be controlling and use battering to get their way.
Now this doesn’t mean that all children of abusers become abusers, as they may very well instead become victims ... Views: 1141
We all have our moments when we slide into that beaten down spot and find ourselves wallowing in thoughts that keep us there. It’s as if one picks up where one’s former batterer left off.
When that happens, nip it in the bud. In the same way that you may quash a cold coming at its early onset ... Views: 1103
Why do we hate victims of domestic abuse?
We hate the hold their perpetrators have over them when it interferes with us getting what love and affection we are accustom to receiving from them.
We hate the frustration of not being able to shake them awake. We hate their choosing to be controlled ... Views: 1011
Verbal abuse is toxic. The following is Kate Carlson, OTR/L interviewing domestic abuse consulting expert Dr. Jeanne King, Ph.D. in an effort to help people recognize and understand verbal abuse in unhealthy relationships.
1) KATE CARLSON: In your words, please define verbal abuse and ... Views: 1927
I’m frequently approached by families to help them “yank” their adult daughter or son out of an abusive relationship. And they come to me wanting me to “do it” as they have attempted to “do it.” That is by trying to influence their adult child’s choices in whatever way the parents are accustomed ... Views: 950
How do you know if this is emotional abuse? How do you know if you are being abused emotionally? You know from the inside out.
Look closely at these three tell-tale signs of emotional abuse and let your awareness of your inner experience, relative to each, permeate your entire being.
1) Being ... Views: 1321
When is the best time to grab a victim out of an abusive relationship? There are two points of intervention. That is, there are two times when she/he is MOST amenable to leaving the abusive relationship.
What are these times?
1) Before she/he settles into the relationship and becomes part of ... Views: 1456
Married women on their way out of an abusive relationship are frequently found navigating the system en route to safety. But is their path safe?
Not necessarily so. We frequently see women struggling in relation to their legal counsel just as they struggled in their battering relationship. And ... Views: 1478
They say victims of domestic abuse come in all shapes and sizes, yet have some very distinct commonalities characteristic of being in an abusive relationship.
Abusive spouses, on the other hand, come in two very distinct breeds. What are they?
Two Kinds of Batterers:
There are those that ... Views: 1441
It's no secret that we see what we project. And when it comes to abuse, doing so can have repercussions for all of us.
Prior abuse in one's life can set the stage for misinterpretations of our adult partner's actions, intentions, feelings and relationship to us.
Now this doesn't mean that when ... Views: 903
Lack of "emotional safety" is the number one indicator of a potentially dangerous relationship. It may seem subtle, yet it is ever so significant with respect to your well-being.
When you have emotional safety, it's palatable. You can feel it in every fiber of your being. When it's missing, you ... Views: 7659
If you chose fear, then the object of your fear is scary. If you chose not to fear, the object is neutral. Fear is a choice.
And the choice you make will determine how you see the other person, thing or situation AND how you experience yourself relative to that person…how you experience ... Views: 1129
Lack of emotional safety is the number one indicator of a potentially dangerous relationship. It may seem subtle, yet it is ever so significant with respect to your well-being.
When you have emotional safety, it’s palatable. You can feel it in every fiber of your being. When it’s missing, you ... Views: 1891
In marriages in which there is no domestic abuse and parental alienation upon divorce, it is more often the woman who is the alienating parent. Whereas in marriages in which there is domestic abuse, the victimized partner is in most cases the alienated parent. Why these trends?
PAS in ... Views: 1062
The memory is in the muscle. We hear people vividly taste remnants of the feelings surrounding old trauma when faced with a trigger of the context in which that original trauma was experienced. It’s truly as though the memory is in the muscle.
We know this phenomenon to be characteristic of ... Views: 1489
Intimate partner violence is best avoided by understanding emotional verbal abuse and the warning signs of an abusive relationship. In an effort to help educate people and increase awareness of verbal abuse, Kate Carlson, OTR/L interviews Dr. Jeanne King, Ph.D.
Kate Carlson: Throughout the ... Views: 1429
Emotional safety is vague when it isn’t there, and it’s ever so palatable when it is. What is being emotionally safe? And how does this serve as an indicator...an internal red flag of a potentially destructive relationship.
What is emotional safety?
Emotionally safe is a feeling ... Views: 1596
Common thinking is that domestic violence is a misfortune that befalls the lower class. We hear about them more, we see more of them, we have public services to care for their needs...but that doesn’t make them in the majority when it comes to domestic abuse.
I would venture to say that ... Views: 1173