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Identifying Abuse

When Abusers Use Sexual Abuse to Control

It can take on many forms beyond rape | Physical abuse can leave the telltale signs of black eyes, broken bones and bruises. Psychological abuse can result in a bev... read more
Can DV Survivors Adopt Stockholm Syndrome?

Sorting out feelings of empathy and compassion for one’s abuser | Psychologists coined the term “Stockholm syndrome” in 1973 to help explain a hostage situation in ... read more
Who are Secondary Survivors?

How a survivor’s support system can fall victim to an abuser’s manipulation | Unfortunately, the reach of domestic abuse can be wider than just the abuser’s partner... read more
Why We Can't Blame Abuse on Alcohol

Dispelling the common myth that batterers abuse because they’re drunk, and will stop when sober | It’s all too often heard that someone’s partner is only mean/viole... read more
Perspecticide: Erased by Your Partner

The harsh reality of "perspecticide" in a coercive control relationship | Living with an abusive and controlling partner can feel like living in a cult, exc... read more
How Strangulation Affects the Brain

Six things to know about healing after a traumatic brain injury | Most people would associate traumatic brain injury (TBI) with violent accidents, strokes or even conc... read more
Strangulation Can Leave Long-Lasting Injuries

One of the most lethal abuser tactics explained | The power of controlling a victim’s next breath makes strangulation a frequent tactic for abusers. It can t... read more
The New Cyberstalking

Technology means abusers have more ways to stalk than ever before | Google “cyberstalking” and you’ll find plenty of tips on how to protect yourself from creepy str... read more
Domestic Violence in Affluent Marriages

When abusers feel a sense of narcissistic entitlement | Opening up about domestic violence, either to the police or one’s friends and family, is often difficult and fr... read more
Normal Jealousy or the Start of Abuse?

How to tell the difference in your relationship | Most, if not all of us, have felt jealousy at some point in our lives. Many of us may also be familiar with the ne... read more
Will It Happen Again?

Do past behaviors predict future abuse? | Batterers are often considered individuals who terrorize, intimidate, control and abuse their partners. And, they typicall... read more
How Abusers Trick Survivors Into Denying Abuse

A five-step manipulation process | Take it back. Victims of domestic violence sometimes retract their claims against their abusers for various reasons, including be... read more
How to Recognize Emotional Abuse

19 questions that help identify this type of domestic violence | It’s a common and damaging myth—without bruises, cuts, broken bones, bandages or a black eye, it’s... read more
What is Gaslighting?

This type of psychological abuse leaves survivors questioning every memory they have | You’re overreacting. It wasn’t that bad. You’re just being emotional. ... read more
Recovering from Life with a Psychopath

Q&A with Jackson MacKenzie, author of Psychopath Free | Twenty-six-year-old Jackson MacKenzie, one of the founders of PsychopathFree.com, originally self... read more