Verbal Abuse Recovery
What happens when a place that should remain neutral becomes part of a high-conflict family dynamic? In this episode, I look back at my daughter’s school experience, blurred boundaries, triangulation, school accountability, and what I understand differently now about protecting children from adult conflict.
Is This Abusive? Explores emotional abuse, verbal abuse, gaslighting, coercive control, relationship warning signs, and recovery. Through personal experience, reflection, and practical insight, the podcast helps listeners recognize unhealthy patterns, trust their own perceptions, and better understand what may be happening in difficult relationships.
Gaslighting can slowly make you question your memory, instincts, and even your own sense of reality. In this personal reflection, I look at how repeated denial, blame, and distorted versions of events affected my ability to trust myself, and how documenting what happened became part of finding my way back to my own voice.
This episode explores how abuse was understood, or left unnamed, across three generations of women. From a grandmother with few options, to a generation taught that abuse meant bruises, to the growing language we now have for verbal abuse, coercive control, and emotional harm, this conversation looks at what women were taught to endure and why naming these patterns matters.
This episode explores the subtle warning signs that can make an unhealthy or abusive relationship difficult to recognize. From walking on eggshells and questioning your own perspective to control, isolation, blame, and intimidation, the focus is on patterns that may seem small individually but become more concerning when they happen repeatedly over time.
There are times in life when even small misunderstandings can feel much bigger than they normally would. It may not be because the issue itself is enormous, but because your emotional reserves are already being used somewhere else. Right now, much of my energy is going toward my mother and everything that comes with loving... Continue Reading →
When I look back through the women in my family, one thing becomes very clear to me: abuse did not suddenly appear in my generation. What changed was our ability to recognize it, name it, talk about it, and eventually do something about it. My grandmother lived in a time when a woman could have... Continue Reading →
If you read my previous post, you know that my mother was recently diagnosed with cancer. I traveled to be with her, and while helping her sort through her home and prepare for what comes next, I found myself returning to this old blog. Maybe there is something about sorting through a lifetime of belongings... Continue Reading →
It really makes me sad that her father does the things he does. It is so unhealthy and confusing. Especially all the blaming he does and how he doesn't ever take ownership for his part in fights. He has never taken ownership of anything over the past 25 years I have known him.
The other day I was spending time working on my craft and this song came into rotation. For some reason, this song captured my heart right away. After a moment, I realized what she was singing about it brought tears to my eyes. This song was talking about a love triangle between divorced parents. The artist is singing about divorce and how it impacts children. This song made me think about my daughter.
This is a story from one of our readers: "We love charming men. When I first met RS, I thought I had found one of the most charming men I had ever met. He’s handsome and his initial personality melted me. He wanted to spend every single day with me, was very affectionate, brought me... Continue Reading →
So, I met with my daughter on Friday for my birthday. Our conversation was good and she did discuss her plans on moving out next year, but did not discuss the reasons why. Since I do have a bit of information, I was able to ask her questions about her plans. I asked if she... Continue Reading →
Last week, I stopped by to visit a friend who used to live down the street from my old house. She said that my daughter has been hanging out with her daughter. My friend was conflicted about discussing this information with me, but she felt as a mother, I should know. Apparently, something happened between... Continue Reading →
So, it has been nearly two years since my daughter left our house to go live with her father. Looking back, I have definitely made progress. There have been a few changes. One, my daughter is no longer so angry as she was when she initially left. Also, the fact that time has a way... Continue Reading →
Since 2010, I have been writing in this blog and posting experiences. Oftentimes I forget how dysfunctional these experiences were at the time. Time has a away of softening things and making you remember the story in a less crazy light. My post Accepting the Painful Reality was one of the ones that really stuck... Continue Reading →
Recently I have been binge watching The Handmaid's Tale. I must say this is probably not the best show to binge watch because it is tale of a very dark totalitarian society. Nearly every episode is dark, disturbing, and rather abusive. However, there are may parallels between the abuse of power displayed and what life... Continue Reading →
Today is another day, I feel renewed, and stronger. There is no way I am going to give up and allow my twisted ex-husband to win his sick game. This entire situation has been unfair and flat out wrong. I was a good mother and did not deserve this type of treatment from my ex... Continue Reading →
It has been while since I have written. Sometimes it can be just too painful to write in this blog and think about these painful topics. Since my daughter left, it has been a difficult 'almost' two years. However, looking back, I realize that healthy progress has been made. My daughter keeps reaching out to... Continue Reading →
I have not been as diligent about writing my thoughts lately. On some days, it is still a struggle. I miss my daughter terribly and really hurts my heart how things ended up. It seems that it is not uncommon for children to make a decision to move in with the other parent. In this... Continue Reading →
Over the years, I have found a few great tips to deal with abusive emails. These are two great tips and tricks to help you avoid being surprised and also how to respond to the facts. Hopefully these tips are helpful to you too. Abusive Email Tip #1 In most email servers, you can create... Continue Reading →
There are several reasons why you should consider going No Contact with Abusers, Narcissists, and Emotional Manipulators. There may be reasons why you cannot block the person, but you can take steps to ensure you are not surprised by their emails. Emotional Health You deserve to protect your emotional health from abuser, narcissist, and/or emotional... Continue Reading →
