healing from abuse

Abuse is exhausting

That’s not intended as hyperbole, nor is it flippant. I can always tell a survivor who is either still in or has recently exited an abusive relationship, as she/they appear drained of life, alternating with a distinctive, hypervigilant look, like a frightened rabbit. When I treat clients who are still in these relationships, they universally…

Talking about being victimized isn’t “victim mentality”

When I was in grad school, I met a woman about my age who was wrestling with childhood abuse she’d never dealt with before. Clinical psychology programs have a way of doing that–teasing out whatever unhealed wounds are still hiding from the light. One day in a class discussion about abuse, someone began loudly proclaiming…