Emotional abuse is when one person Usually or frequently engages in behaviors to control another person by:
- criticizing
- embarrassing
- manipulating
- shaming
- blaming
- discounting
- dismissing
- depriving
- denying
- controlling
...their rights, needs, wants, thoughts, feelings AND equality.
Unfortunately, many people do not recognize emotional abuse.
Perhaps, they are used to it from a difficult childhood, and think it is love. NO! It isn’t. It’s abuse.
Yes, it’s difficult to admit–even to yourself–that you are being emotionally abused.
Maybe, you are sufficiently trauma-bonded to even have sympathy for your abuser. That’s a big red flag that you need to see the emotional abuse for what it is, and take steps to stop tolerating it.
It also can be difficult to redefine the parent or partner who is perpetrating the emotional abuse as abusive. You don’t want to think of them that way, or you care more about their reputation than your own emotional safety.
I know those are tough words to hear.
Emotional abuse becomes a way of life that you manage within, all the while trying to do everything the abuser wants.
You think that will make them happy, secure, stable, and kind. It won’t. Emotional abusers are seldom interested in changing themselves because they have a NEED to control. (Sorry. The most likely change is that they get worse.)
Recognize the many sneaky and obvious ways that you may being emotionally abused. On my Save Your Sanity podcast and my YouTube channel, there’s so much for you. I hope you’ll listen, watch, recognize, and know that NO ONE has the right to abuse you.
I’m here to help you gain insights, skills, and strategies to help you say NO! to further emotional abuse. Please start today. You deserve to live without abuse!
Emotional Abuse often feels like:
- “I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong anymore and feel like I am going crazy.”
- “I feel like I have to live on high alert. I don’t know what’s coming next.”
- “Nothing I do is right or good enough.“
- “It’s always my fault…even when it isn’t.”
- “I am confused all the time, things are unpredictably awesome or horrible, and nowhere in between.”
- “I’m tired of the silent treatment.”
- “Sometimes I think my partner really hates me.”
- “I’m concerned for my children, what they’re seeing and hearing.”
- “I’m so tired of the drama, the outbursts, the attacks, and the cycles.”
- “Should I stay or should I go?”
- “Can this relationship ever get better?”
- Are you tired of everything being your fault?
- Is home somewhere you avoid because it doesn't feel safe?
- Do you feel like you're walking on eggshells and can't be yourself?
- Are you caught in a cycle of feeling overwhelmed and unable to make decisions, constantly second-guessing yourself?
Here are a collection of my popular podcast episodes and blog posts that may give you some deeper insight into what you’re experiencing right now.
Passive-Aggressive Behavior: Why Do You Tolerate It?
Passive-aggressive behavior is crazy-making. You know–especially if you’ve been reading this blog for a while–that to end passive-aggressive behavior you
Being Verbally Abused May Be Something You’ve Gone “Nose-Blind” To!
Are you being verbally abused? It’s there. It’s always in the air. It could strike or rebound at any time.
Gaslighting | Hijackal® Relationships
Have you started second-guessing yourself and questioning your sanity around your partner, parent or boss? Do you have a totally
Passive Aggressive Relationships – When Is It Abuse?
Passive Aggressive Abuse in Relationships Leaving you shaking your head in disbelief, it’s like a nightmare where you try to
Am I Living with a Passive-Aggressive Man?
An unlikely, but newsworthy, top story: “Passive-aggressive men drive their partners crazy daily!” Are you being driven crazy by the
Are you Self-Aware & “Other” Wise?
Becoming other wise is one of the greatest benefits of getting relationship help, even when you don’t think you need
Relationship Help: When he won’t protect or profess you, it’s a sign!
WOMEN! Are you with a man who won’t protect or profess you? This is a guy who lets other people
Insights into emotional abuse of children
Abuse is any behavior that is designed to control or dominate another person. Whether that is through fear, humiliation, intimidation,
I can help
I provide urgent and ongoing care for relationships in crisis. My mission is to provide the insights, information, and inspiration for clients and audiences to transform relationship with themselves and other humans to be honest, respectful, and safe in all ways. Even the United States Marines have sought my help!
I focus on helping the partners, exes, and adult children of the relentlessly difficult, toxic people she calls Hijackals® to stop the crazy-making and save their sanity.
Author of sixteen books, including her Hijackal ebook series, Escaping the Hijackal Trap, and, Stop! That’s Crazy-Making, Dr. Shaler is the host of the popular podcast, Save Your Sanity: Help for Toxic Relationships.
Work with me privately
Working one-on-one with me, you will gain clarity, insight and strength to really look at your relationship.
Sometimes that deep look will show you that you have changes to make yourself, or that you need to accept certain realities… or that it’s time to make some of the hard decisions you’ve been avoiding.
Join my online community
A safe place among peers, who have been or are in a relationship with a Hijackal–a toxic person–and know what you’re going through.
If the Hijackal is someone you HAVE to communicate and spend time with, or are not ready to release from your life–this is the right place to get support.
