Emotional abuse, also called psychological abuse, is a huge problem in modern society. It’s best defined as any type of abusive, verbal behavior targeted at one individual by another. This is a type of abuse that promotes in its victims a destructive sense of fear, obligation and/or guilt. Quite often this type of maltreatment occurs over time—years in some cases. Because of this, the victim often doesn’t know they’re a victim of abuse because it’s normal to how life is behind closed doors. Normal to them, that is, not normal in the usual sense.
Typical examples of emotional abuse include the following:
- Alienation
- Blaming
- Bullying
- Emotional Blackmail
- False Accusations
- Harassment
- Intimidation
- Name-Calling
- Raging
- Threats.
Those who escape from the oppression of this awful behavior often need emotional abuse therapy sessions to help rebuild their lives. We can offer these sessions at Thriveworks Counseling in Houston, TX.
Emotional Abuse vs. Physical Abuse
Emotional abuse is different to physical abuse, obviously, but it can often be more damaging. Any physical damage can heal itself within a relatively short space of time. This is not the case with emotional scars, many of which can embed into the victims psyche and torment them for years; a lifetime in some cases.
Emotionally abused victims spend a lot of their time “walking on eggshells” around the abuser. They’re in a constant state of hyper-vigilance; afraid to speak sometimes. Here are a few of the other struggles a victim may face on a daily basis:
- Constantly on their “best” behavior around the abuser
- Unable to relax or enjoy anything when the abuser is around
- Always anticipating the worst
- Always waiting for the next outburst to happen
- Blame themselves for the abuser’s bad moods
- Lost hope of living a peaceful, contented life.
This is no way to live, yet tens of thousands of people do exist in this way on a daily basis.
Emotional Abuse Solutions in Houston, TX
Here at Thriveworks in Houston, TX we have highly qualified emotional abuse counselors with years of experience in this field. If you have lost all hope and are living in a perpetual state of unease, call us today. Schedule an appointment so we can discuss your options for repairing the damage caused to you by emotional maltreatment.
