Speak Up. Stand Tall.

As those of you who know me personally might know, I recently started going regularly to a new church. I don't know what made this one stick, having gone to different churches before. I like the style of the services, how the pastor sticks with a certain lesson throughout. I like how community-oriented the church is, something I felt was missing from my old home church. There were places I could see myself fitting in-- and I have taken the steps to join into my new church, and am so grateful to have a place in the teen leadership. But last Sunday, the pastor said some things while talking about First Peter Chapter Two, a lesson called 'There is Purpose in our Pain.' If you want to hear the full sermon, please check it out here -- it's really good-- but my main focus is on what my pastor said about abuse . I can say with certainty, I have never heard a church take such a strong and outspoken stand on this topic-- in fact, a stance on abuse is why I left a church in t

While working on my post for next week, I came across this video on the Youtube Channel Psych2Go. While I talked about Gaslighting on my blog before, I thought coming back to it might be a good idea-- and this video highlights some things I did not go over in my post which you can find here ! As Psych2Go says, "anyone is susceptible to gaslighting, and it is a common technique of abusers, dictators, narcissists, and cult leaders." Gaslighting is a cruel and often undetected form of mental and emotional abuse, and it's not always easily spotted. Please take a few minutes to watch this video, and if you haven't already, go read my post on gaslighting! It's a topic I got to know personally, and something I hope to help prevent in others' lives. On a more personal note-- I'm excited to say I will start working with the teen group at my new church! This is a great opportunity to let teenagers know about abuse and help those who might be going through abuse

Breakups are hard no matter which way you look at it. No one ever wants to break someone's heart, or walk away from time invested in a relationship. However, breakups usually aren't a threat to your personal safety and your life. In my post Mythbusting Abuse: Is it Easy to Leave? I talked about the significant risk to a woman's safety after a breakup. Post-breakup, according to JoinOneLove.org, is the most dangerous period for an abused woman. In fact, the likelihood of being killed in the weeks after the breakup is 70%.  "Intimate" Violence Against Women raises those weeks to two years in cases where the victim lived with her abuser. We see proof of this danger in the news, on shows like Dateline, all the time. So today, I want to talk about safely breaking up, and what to do after a breakup to stay safe . Form a Support System When I broke up with my abuser, it was something that wasn't planned. I hadn't talked to anyone to let them know, but as

When someone is in an abusive relationship, it is easy to feel alone and like there is no help or hope. Sometimes people simply do not know where to look. While calling 9-1-1 seems to be the most likely solution (and something I highly support),  The Hotline  did a survey of abused women which stated that  4/5 women were afraid of calling the police . Some areas-- such as that of the Pickens County Georgia Sheriff's Office and the State of Tennessee-- are trying to lessen that fear by releasing videos such as the two shared here. However, there are other places to reach out to or to use for help if you are one of those 4/5 that does not want to involve the police. The Hotline is one of the best resources for victims of domestic/intimate abuse, along with its sister site Love is Respect which is aimed more towards teenagers and young adults, as well as parents and friends of those that may be involved in an abusive relationship. Both of these websites have online chat availab