Understanding what an abusive relationship looks like is a key step toward getting help.
But abuse can be hard to spot, especially when it is not easily visible. When we think of abuse, it is common to think of physical abuse because it results in scars and bruises that we can see.
Yet physical abuse is just one kind of abuse that can happen. Abuse can also be emotional, sexual, psychological, financial, or spiritual. For Emily, the abuse she endured was emotional and financial.
How to help survivors of domestic violence
Knowing how to help a survivor of domestic violence or intimate relationship violence can seem like an overwhelming challenge. Several questions can flood your mind when you are presented with the opportunity to help someone who confides in you that they are surviving abuse.
When I tell people what I do for a living, they usually say, “Wow! I could never do that. It must be so hard!” I always respond with, “Oh, but it’s so rewarding.”
Every time this conversation topic comes up, I am struck by how intense people’s reactions are. Few people believe they would be capable of handling the kind of work that I do, and I want to change that.
I am a mental health counselor who specializes in working with people who have experienced sexual assault or intimate partner violence at some point in their life...
The world tries to convince us that once certain things are obtained (money, sex, fame, personal pride) you will be happy. The reality however is that you can have everything in the world but if you don’t have God, you have nothing...
My husband and I have each had “get a proper will” on our personal to-do lists for an embarrassingly long time. We initially each started with a very simple will that we did online. We knew we both wanted to create a more detailed estate plan eventually, but figured having simple wills set up to take care of our son and name the wills’ executors was much better than having no wills at all.*
Fast-forward to today, and we are now finally working on what I like to call “Will 2.0...
