So many of the abuse survivors I work with must fight their former abusive partners for custody of their kids in Family Court. The stories I've heard would turn your hair. It seems incomprehensible to the average person why a judge would give custody of innocent...
In my last blog, I talked about the paradoxes a domestic violence victim faces when they are also a parent. In my case, I struggled with wanting to escape my abusive marriage, but also, not wanting to put my kids through an ugly divorce. I wanted my kids to understand...
I often talk about the difficulties of being a victim of domestic violence. I’ve also talked about how detrimental DV is to the children in the family. But I haven’t said much about the pain of being a DV victim who is also a parent. Why do I make this distinction?...
I hope you have enjoyed my series on dating after abuse. If you have been dating someone, and you think you may seriously have a future with him,* you may wonder when is the right time to introduce each other to your kids? Also, what is the best way to do this? I...
In my last blog I talked about the crisis occurring in our family court system. Abusers are given unsupervised and often full custody with their children, while their protective parents are often required to have supervised visitation with the children they are...
A crisis is occurring for abused women* and their children in many of the family law courts in every state of the United States. I have heard similar stories from women in Australia and the United Kingdom as well. What is this crisis? Abusive fathers use the court...
I feel very honored to be named a Champion by the Childhood Domestic Violence Association. CDV.org is a great organization working hard to prevent childhood domestic violence, and also to empower current and former victims. I don’t often talk about the fact that in...
Children who grow up in homes where they experience domestic violence learn lies about themselves. Because they believe these lies, they often get into domestic violence relationships as adults – as the perpetrator or the victim. Here are some examples of some of...
Children living in homes with domestic violence will be affected in numerous ways.* This can be depressing. What is a non-abusive parent to do? Can anything be done to help their children to heal? Yes, there are. Today I present good news and advice from Promising...
Last week I began describing my journey through the “injustice” system when I separated from my abusive husband. Here is the link to last week’s blog. Today, I will continue the story. Both parts of the story are excerpts from my new book A Journey through Emotional...
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