Healing is a holistic and dynamic process that involves the restoration of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being after experiencing challenges, trauma, or distress. Healing is not just the absence of symptoms; it encompasses a journey toward overall wellness and a sense of wholeness. The path to healing is unique for each individual and may involve a combination of self-care practices, professional support, and personal growth.
You can have an enormous capacity to love, but that does not mean someone will always have access to it. There is a moment in my first marriage that I have never forgotten. Following an argument, I was playing with my two Jack Russell dogs when my husband watched me and made an observation that… Read More When Love Is No Longer Available: Love, Betrayal and the Changing Nature of Relationships
A survival guide to people who talk the talk, walk absolutely nowhere and somehow still expect a standing ovation. There comes a time in life when you develop a rather wonderful skill: the ability to recognise nonsense without feeling the need to participate in it. You know the people I’m talking about. The ones who… Read More The Hypocrisy Olympics: Recognising the Patterns and Knowing When to Stop Playing Along
Healing after inconsistent affection, emotional dismissal, or sexual pressure involves rebuilding safety, autonomy, and trust in yourself. Recognise withdrawal as protective, practise boundaries, explore non-sexual touch gradually, and distinguish calm from anxiety. Grounding, self-compassion, consistent respect, trauma-informed therapy, and patience can support recovery. Intimacy should remain freely chosen, never owed or forced.… Read More Practical Healing Steps: Learning to Feel Safe with Intimacy Again
The article explains how shame, humiliation, rejection and threatened self-esteem can contribute to anger, blame, retaliation and coercive control, while stressing that these reactions do not establish a diagnosis or justify harm. It distinguishes accountability from retaliation, highlights post-separation abuse and boundary erosion, and emphasizes survivors’ right to safety, autonomy and independence.… Read More Shame, Humiliation and the Psychology of Retaliation
The text distinguishes remorse and guilt, which focus on harm and responsibility, from shame and humiliation, which threaten identity or status and may provoke defensiveness, blame, or retaliation. In coercive relationships, losing control can be mistaken for losing love. Understanding psychology should never excuse abuse; safety, boundaries, accountability, and sustained change remain essential.… Read More Remorse, Guilt, Shame and Humiliation: The Psychology of Accountability, Anger and Losing Control
The text distinguishes cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, remorse, attachment, intimacy, and accountability, explaining how someone may recognise another’s suffering without responding compassionately or changing harmful behavior. It cautions against diagnosing ASPD from relationship behavior, emphasizes sustained accountability over words, and affirms that understanding abuse does not require excusing it or identifying a diagnosis.… Read More The Psychology of ASPD: Empathy, Remorse, Attachment, Control and Conscience
People with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) can feel emotions. They are not necessarily emotionless, incapable of attachment or unable to experience love. However, they may experience, process and respond to emotions differently from people without the disorder. One of the most important distinctions is between feeling an emotion and having the capacity to understand, respect and respond… Read More Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD): How it affects relationships and whether people feel emotions
Revisiting old letters can reveal patterns of emotional neglect, coercive control, and abuse while fostering compassion for one’s past self. Sharing such experiences may help others recognise unhealthy relationships, but it should never be obligatory. Privacy, safety, and readiness come first. Healing means acknowledging history without letting it define the future or dictate its next chapter.… Read More When You Are Ready to Tell Your Story: Finding Your Voice After Abuse
The writer reflects on old letters pleading for affection, understanding, and kindness from an emotionally unavailable partner. She recognizes that repeated attempts to communicate became begging, revealing a relationship marked by neglect, control, and abuse. Now, she rejects further persuasion, embraces her worth, reclaims her voice, and chooses relationships where love and respect are freely given.… Read More No More Dear Paul Letters: I Will Never Beg for Love Again
Talk is cheap. Words are easy. Anyone can say they love you, promise you the world and tell you how special you are. But real relationships are not built on what people say. They are built on what people actually do. It’s in the little things, the thoughtful gestures and those seemingly insignificant moments that… Read More Love Isn’t in the Words. It’s in the Little Things.
