Psychological Abuse

• Made you do something that compromised your own values in order to please your abusive partner.
• Controlling Activities and Isolation - controlled and monitored what you do, who you see, who you talk to, what you read, where you go so that you can’t stay in contact with family or friends; limited your outside involvement; used jealousy to justify actions.
• Minimizing, Denying, and Blaming – made light of the abuse and not took your concerns about it seriously, said the abuse didn’t happen, shifted responsibility for abusive behavior, said you caused it.
• Children – made you feel guilty about the children, used the children to relay messages, used visitation to harass you, threatened to take the children away.
• Male Privilege – treated you like a servant, made all the big decisions, acted like the “master of the castle,” the one to define men’s and women’s roles; expected you to ask permission.
• Coercion and Threats – made or carried out threats to do something to hurt you or your children, family or pets; threatened to leave you; threatened to commit suicide if you abandoned them; threatened to kill you if you leave; threatened to report you to welfare; blackmailed you about your sexual orientation or other sensitive information; made you drop charges; made you do illegal things; used lies to manipulate you.
• Intimidation – made you afraid by using looks, actions, or gestures; abused your pets; displayed weapons; took or destroyed your possessions