by Christine Hammond on October 31, 2020
Maggie and James were involved parents. They participated in their kid’s school, coached a team or two, helped with homework, and knew the names of their kid’s friends. But for some reason, one of their three kids was constantly in trouble. The other two enjoyed a great reputation at their school but their sister was… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on October 30, 2020
Tess was immediately annoyed in the presence of her manager and she couldn’t understand why. She normally got along with a wide-range of personalities, had no issue with authority, and was generally well-liked by most. But for some reason, every time she saw her manager, she wanted to run in the opposite direction. Their conversations… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 18, 2020
It finally hit. After years of wondering what was wrong, who was crazy, and how this could have happened, the reality of abusive behavior hits like a ton of bricks. The insight is simultaneously overwhelming, shocking, frustrating, disgusting, and demeaning. But there it is the answer that was longed for but may never have been… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 17, 2020
Hindsight is 20/20 vision when it comes to the fall of a relationship. What was once overlooked, minimized, explained away, or discounted now becomes an obvious sign of a deteriorating relationship. At first, they seemed so charming, helpful, generous, innocent, and gentle but then things turned, and an entirely different picture became apparent. Charming converted… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 10, 2020
“I never want to see you again,” Marie shouted to her husband as she slammed the door on the way out. Adam stood still wondering if she would immediately turn around as she had so many times before or if she would dramatically wait. Either way, he was no longer going to nervously run after… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 8, 2020
Mike found himself regularly confused by other people. Even though he was successful in his career, he struggled with personal connections. He had professional relationships, but they were very superficial and only existed within a work environment. When he tried to converse outside of business matters, he only ended up sounding awkward and unintelligent. The… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on September 2, 2020
Sam saw a disturbing pattern in her marriage between herself and her partner. After her narcissistic husband would explode combining verbal assaults with mental and emotional abuse, he would enter a calmer phase of interaction for several weeks – almost allowing her to believe the abusive behavior had completely ceased. Then, as if there was… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on August 26, 2020
As soon as Tracey could get away, she ran. It took nearly all night to find the right moment when her date had finally fallen asleep so that she could remove his arm off her body. She silently grabbed her clothes from around the room, putting on enough items to leave the apartment, and carrying… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on August 25, 2020
The first couple of therapy sessions with Trina were rollercoaster rides. One second she was excited about a new job and all of the possibilities it presented, and the next she was anxious and overwhelmed from being a caretaker to her mother. When she came back for her second session she was nervous and depressed… (more…)
by Christine Hammond on July 31, 2020
William was feeling ashamed and embarrassed. For years he tolerated abuse from his wife and had been too humiliated to tell anyone. Knowing he would not strike back at her, she frequently hit him, threw things at him, physically blocked him from leaving the room, and followed him when he was able to pass her, yelling… (more…)