Posts

Showing posts from January, 2015

New Year, New You

By Cara Griffin-Locker It is a new year and a new you.   This time of year is a great time to embrace starting fresh and a good time to think about new aspirations and meaningful goals.   It is a time when we ponder on what our story will be.   It is also a time when many of us set the wonderful eagerly anticipated New Year’s resolutions. Sounds great, right? Maybe the part about the goals and aspirations and the possibility of writing a whole new story, but what about the resolutions? If you are like most people, you set the resolution knowing it is going to be broken or soon forgotten.   Or better yet, you set a resolution just because everyone else is setting one. Who loves setting a resolution that is often not kept and leaves one feeling discouraged, defeated and depressed in the middle of January? Why do we do this to ourselves? Is the societal epidemic of keeping up with the Joneses partially to blame? Or can we simply blame ourselves for the lack of time and ability to

10 Steps to Back Away from Religious Abuse

By Christine Hammond Religious abuse exists in every type of faith. Oftentimes, it is not the religion itself that is the problem but the people within the practice. This is precisely why it is hard to get away. Most likely it began with an attraction of sorts, a need being filled, companionship, and a sense of belonging. But those positive feelings were soon met with conflicting emotions of isolation, inadequacy, guilt, shame, and distrust. The confusion feels like physical abuse without the marks. Others who have left the religion are shunned, disgraced, and humiliated. You want to pull away but are unsure of how. Try these steps. 1.        Learn the signs of religious abuse. Memorize and identify when they are being used against you. Saying in your head, “This is abusive behavior,” promotes awareness and empowerment. 2.        Get a new perspective by sidestepping religious rituals. This is not about abandoning your faith. Rather it is about viewing things from a d

Eight Mental Abuse Tactics Narcissists Use on Spouses

By Christine Hammond Have you experienced intentional exploitation by your spouse? Regularly endured insults mixed with rejection and alternating with affirmation? Feel manipulated into doing or saying something out of character? Then you might be experiencing abuse. But is it really abuse without bruising?   Abuse is not just physical. There are many other forms of abuse such as sexual, financial, emotional, mental, and verbal. While some of the other forms of abuse are obvious, mental abuse by a narcissist can be difficult to spot. It starts simply with a casual comment about anything: color of the wall, dishes in the sink, or the car needing maintenance. The remark is taken out of context by the narcissist to mean that you disapprove of them in some way. You try to explain that wasn’t your intention but they are off on a tirade which ends in you feeling like you are losing your mind. How did this happen? Here are several favorite narcissistic mental abuse tactics: