Check out this great interview by Mark Forsythe from CBC! This conversation between Karen McAndless-Davis and Mark Forsythe was a great review of some central concepts and themes in When Love Hurts. If you have trouble listening to our player, try listening or downloading the MP3, here.
International Women’s Day is an important day to mark. We have a lot to celebrate. Because of the determined work of many women who have gone before us we enjoy today more freedoms and opportunities than ever before in human history. We remember with some shock that the movement towards giving equality to women is…
Check out this great interview by Christy Clark from CKNW! This conversation between Karen McAndless-Davis and Christy Clark was a solid review of some central themes and ideas in When Love Hurts. If you have trouble listening to our player, try listening or downloading the MP3 here.
We used this reading last night at the end of our support group. It was written by a colleague of mine (Elsie Wiebe-Klinger). I think it says a lot about the truth about abuse. It’s not that… I think that abusive behavior is ‘normal’ or that I’m attracted to abusive men, Rather, When abuse happens,…
It is Valentine’s Day. I’ve been listening to the radio on and off all day. The stories are all light and fluffy. The hosts chatter on about love and romance as if this were everyone’s experience. But we know that for lot’s of women love hurts and Valentine’s Day is just one more reminder of…
I was so saddened last night when I found out that a woman in my community had been murdered by her ex-boyfriend. A worker at my local transition house told me about it with tears in her eyes. The transition house had enjoyed getting to know this woman who was bravely getting her life back…
Well, Karen and I have just published the 2nd edition of our book When Love Hurts: A Woman’s Guide to Understanding Abuse in Relationships. With over 11,000 copies sold and a wonderful response from women, transition houses, women’s shelters and women’s support and advocacy workers, we felt it was time to update the book and…
We begin our book with one woman’s story. “Allison” is not this woman’s real name, but her experiences are real. We hope that you will see aspects of your own life reflected in hers. At the same time, we know that every woman is unique, and parts of Allison’s story will not be familiar to…
How can I plan ahead? It may be difficult to plan for the future. Part of the struggle may be that your partner’s abuse leaves you exhausted and off-balance. Because of this, it may be difficult to do more than just get through the day. For some women, the physical, financial or social threats their…
Is there a pattern? Most women, living with an abusive partner, find it hard to see any pattern to the abuse. His behaviour seems bizarre and unpredictable. It seems unbelievable that the same person, who is kind and affectionate one day, could be cruel and malicious another. His hurtful behaviour seems to come as isolated…
Each woman’s journey to wholeness and safety, after the devastating experience of abuse, is unique, yet there are some important similarities. The healing process tends to involve periods of intense grief and sadness as well as periods of rebuilding and hope. Here’s what one woman had to say about the journey of hope and sadness….
In order to keep yourself (and your children) safe emotionally and physically safe, you’ve had to pay a great deal of attention to your partner. You probably carefully monitor your partner’s moods and behaviours. You may not have had much opportunity to see how his abuse affects you. Here a partial list of Impacts generated…