| Emotional psychological abuse from your intimate | | | | partner feels? |
| partner is as clear as the day is long when on the | | | | Chances are you experience your wounded |
| receiving end. But for the bystanders, it's ambiguous. | | | | vulnerability. Correct? And it hurts. You feel small and |
| Some people will even tell you that when you are | | | | stuck under the outpouring of innuendo, gestures and |
| the abused, on some level, you become a bystander. | | | | commentary crafted to make you less...to make you |
| It is as though you take yourself out of the line of | | | | wrong...to disempower you relative to your partner. |
| fire simply to survive the blows of spousal emotional | | | | Your partner, on the other hand, is consciously aware |
| abuse, and ultimately exist. | | | | of the impact of his/her emotional psychological |
| You hate being hated. Your tire of being told how | | | | abuse on you. And, unfortunately, this is satisfying to |
| inadequate you are, how you are | | | | him/her. What your partner may be unaware of is his |
| lacking...deficient...defective. You grow to expect darts | | | | her own vulnerability in the moment that he/she is |
| in your own home and recoil in anticipation. | | | | being emotionally abusive toward you. |
| Your body is numb with the overwhelming disregard | | | | With closer reflection, it maybe clear that the |
| that colors your day. But none of this is distinct | | | | emotional verbal attacks keep the abuser's |
| enough for you to put your finger on, much less | | | | vulnerability at bay. The abusive gestures keep him |
| identify definitively. All you know is that you feel "put | | | | her from addressing his/her own inadequacy. The |
| down" and unsafe in your own home. | | | | emotional psychological abuse quickly shifts the scales |
| Shining the Light on Emotional Psychological Abuse | | | | to empower oneself by diminishing the other. |
| Most likely your partner doesn't even know when he | | | | Breaking the Cycle of Emotional Psychological Abuse |
| she is abusing you emotionally and psychologically. It | | | | By looking openly in the moment of the interaction |
| is so automatic that he/she is unaware of this | | | | with the commitment for understanding and insight, |
| reflexive disregard so freely expressed. | | | | couples can break the cycle of emotional |
| Imagine for a moment being blasted abusively and a | | | | psychological abuse. The abuser can grow to |
| whistle being blown from the sidelines. With the | | | | recognize his/her own personal vulnerabilities. And |
| whistle sounded comes a directive for both you and | | | | most importantly, he/she can learn to choose from |
| your partner to check in with yourselves. What do | | | | other options to self-comfort without violating his/her |
| you imagine you feel? What do you expect your | | | | partner. |