This is the only book on the market today that focuses on the entire spectrum of emotional, verbal, sexual, and physical abuse. Written by University of Utah Clinical Associate Professor Elaine Weiss, a survivor, the book goes right to the heart of the reader and changes their perspective on this topic. She paints a clear picture of women who stay in a marriage because of their fierce loyalty and commitment to the sanctity of marriage. Elaine emphasizes the period of time after women leave their abuser and describes in detail what they go on to do with their lives. These are stories of twelve women from various walks of life, including professionals. Each a victim of domestic violence. Each escaped from her abuser. Each reclaimed her dignity, reconstructed her life, rediscovered peace. Every woman who has left an abuserevery woman who has yet to leavewill find encouragement and support in the voices of these women who broke free.

Surviving Domestic Abuse examines how formal and informal supports and services can mitigate the damaging, and sometimes fatal, social cost of domestic violence. The book highlights victims’ perceptions of supports and lays a foundation for professionals and family members to effectively assist victims of domestic abuse. The book offers actionable recommendations and multiple-use cases to fill gaps in the understanding of the complexities that exist in domestic violence dynamics. Dr Finneran uses real-life interviews with victims to inform action and intervention for policy, strategy and decision-making for support and service providers including law enforcement, healthcare, social services and employers. Identification of successful supports and services can assist in preventing victims from returning to their abusive relationships, and the author provides real-life examples and a sounding board for the voices of real women who have endured domestic abuse. Spanning the gulf between research and practice, this is the ideal book for a range of professional communities including psychologists, social workers and healthcare professionals, and victims and survivors themselves. It’s also suitable for academics and researchers, and students taking domestic violence treatment and prevention courses.

First published in 1998, this study investigates the effectiveness of services for helping women who are survivors of domestic violence. Looking at a sample from Western and Central Oregon, it examines the utilization and perceived effectiveness of resources for survivors and, in doing so, it systematically assesses the efficacy of community and professional services. This book will be of particular interest to social work students and practitioners, but will also be helpful to those studying healthcare and law.

Help victims and survivors break the cycle of abuse! Trying to get victims and survivors of domestic abuse to recognize their own victimization can be a frustrating experience. They often become so frightened, isolated, and self-doubting that they make excuses for the abuser. Combining psychological insight with practical safety information, this book helps therapists guide their clients into understanding--and ending--the vicious cycle of wooing, tension, violence, and remorse. A Therapist's Guide to Growing Free provides a comprehensive outline of the issues, tasks, and goals involved in the treatment of victims and survivors. Its chapter-by-chapter breakdown of how violent relationships function and how to end them safely can help you guide a traumatized woman through her therapeutic journey. The guide's companion volume, Growing Free: A Manual for Survivors of Domestic Violence is the perfect handout for clients in individual therapy, group therapy, and battered women's shelters. Reading stories like their own may provide the shock of recognition they need to be able to understand--and eventually to end--the cycle of violence that characterizes all levels of domestic abuse. It outlines a series of steps they can take to ensure their emotional and physical safety. Its stories of women in abusive relationships and discussions of the cycle of abuse are direct and easy to read without ever being condescending. A Therapist's Guide to Growing Free provides the insight and therapeutic models needed for effective intervention and treatment, including: psychological effects and belief systems of victims and survivors discussions and illustrations of the cycle of violence the effects of domestic violence on children and adolescents the therapeutic challenges of couple/conjoint therapy handling crisis intervention suggestions for conducting group and therapeutic therapy for victim and batterer A Therapist's Guide to Growing Free and its companion volume provide both therapists and clients with a practical, action-oriented approach to the problem of domestic violence. It is ideal training and reference material for counselors at women's shelters, emergency room personnel, law-enforcement officers, and other professionals involved in the rescue, support, defense, and treatment of victims and survivors.

Offers practical answers to extraordinarily complex questions raised by abuse. Provides a checklist of warning signs of domestic abuse.

The raw, uplifting, and unforgettable memoir from the CEO and president of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence chronicling her personal battle against abuse, violence, and even a murder attempt. Ruth M. Glenn wasn’t surprised the first time her husband beat her. She was hurt and disappointed but after a childhood in a broken and violent home, she was not surprised. After all, this was just the way things were, right? It was only after she lay bleeding in a carwash parking lot, after being shot three times by him, that Glenn resolved—if she managed to survive—to spend the rest of her life standing up to domestic violence. Now, she brings her full story to the forefront with this survivor’s tale crossed with a rousing call to action. She reveals her difficult but ultimately rewarding journey from that parking lot to sacrificing everything to obtain her advanced degrees. With her evocative and thoughtful voice, Glenn explores the dynamics of domestic violence, why women and children are seen as lesser in our society, how to stop victim-blaming, and how to demystify domestic violence to stop it once and for all. A memoir of resilience and courage, Everything I Never Dreamed is a necessary book that proves that abuse does not have to define a survivor’s entire life.

This memoir is an inspirational yet harrowing story of a domestic violence victim's search for the truth about her marriage. Twenty-one-year-old Sarah Doucette married a charming, gregarious and attentive man. Six years later, she left the marriage, lucky to be alive. Suffering from PTSD and dissociation after years of physical and emotional abuse, Sarah could barely remember the details of her marriage. After her ex-husband's death by suicide, Sarah set out to interview those who knew him, piecing together the destructive patterns in his life and how it affected her even years later. This book is a cautionary tale about trusting one's inner voice in order to leave an abusive relationship. It is a story of domestic abuse survival that can help others survive their trauma while outlining the many kinds of domestic abuse.