By: Josie Nelson The holidays can bring such a whirlwind of emotions and expectations that can be difficult to manage. On one hand, you could be feeling excited about traditions and upcoming family gatherings. On the other hand, you could be nervous and even fearful of being hurt or triggered by past experiences. These seemingly...
By: N.M. Bialko Just before Christmas in 2019, I was home for the holidays but in the throes of a toxic and emotionally abusive relationship. I was feeling like a shell of my former self, and my mind was fixated on negative thoughts. I found myself thinking of a woman who had made the local...
By: N.M. Bialko One in six women will experience stalking and 66.2% of the time, it will be by a former partner. What is Stalking? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stalking as: I am part of that 66.2%; I represent the 1 in 6. Will you stand up with me? I met with Prosecutor Mary Lynn...
By: Whitney Derman Mental Health awareness has made great strides in the past few decades. It is becoming more common to talk about mental health issues and increasingly more common to seek treatment. Despite the normalization, evidence has found that modern approaches to mental illness are not as effective as initially believed. Antidepressants and other...
By: Mandie Schreck Being a survivor of abuse, especially throughout childhood, creates a common fear of raising children and the need to be the best parent or caregiver you can be. We may think of ways we can create a do-over of sorts. If we grew up in an unsafe, abusive, or neglectful home —...
By: Eileen Shea It’s not uncommon for abuse victims and survivors to stay silent, even after they’ve escaped their tormentors because of the layered fear that exists in sharing their stories. Will they be seen as weak to have allowed the abuse to happen? Will they be seen as needy for asking for help? Will...
By: Mandie Schreck What happens when we are in a work environment or even an institution for medical or mental health care and suffer from abuse? This is where education on what qualifies as Organizational Abuse can help us recognize and bring awareness to this unique type of abuse. We often work in conditions that...
By: Whitney Derman The Department of Health and Human Services defines self-neglect as “the behavior of an older adult that threatens their own health or safety and generally manifests itself by failure to provide themselves with adequate food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medication (when indicated), and safety precautions.” (Godfrey, 2019). Although self-neglect is very...
By: Rashmi Negi TW: Discussions of Self-Harm Self-Abuse can be defined as any behavior that causes damage or harm to oneself. This type of abuse has many different terms and may be more commonly referred to as self-harm, self-injury, or even non-suicidal self-injury (NSII). Individuals who self-harm do so to release painful emotions which can...
By: Whitney Derman For many women, traveling alone can be risky, especially at night or in an unfamiliar location. We want to believe that everyone has the right intentions and there won’t be any issues, but it is always wise to be extra cautious. I have curated a list of inconspicuous self-defense tools you can easily...
