The Bottom Line
Verbal abuse is not healthy or normal in a marriage. This valuable source of insight, coping skills, support and information will help you to recognize abuse. No one deserves to be treated this way.
Pros
- Informative self-evaluation questionnaire.
- Description of primary patterns of verbal abuse.
- Great index.
Cons
- Bias that most verbal abuse comes from males.
- Many universal (always, never) type of statements.
Description
- Title: "The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to recognize it and how to respond."
- Author: Patricia Evans
- Publisher: Adams Media Corporation
- The book begins with you making an evaluation of your own experience of verbal abuse.
- The reality of personal power and the consequences of verbal abuse are highlighted.
- The characteristics and fifteen categories of verbal abuse are explained.
- Since verbal abuse is an issue of control, suggestions on how to respond to the abuse are provided.
- Most people wonder why someone is verbally abusive. A look at family of origin gives some clues.
- The damaging consequences of verbal abuse on children and the family are explored.
- The FAQ that has answers to questions that readers ask most is very informative.
Guide Review - "The Verbally Abusive Relationship"
Patricia Evans gives great insight and recommendations for coping with a verbally abusive mate by describing the feelings and thoughts of the typical abuser and by outlining categories of verbal abuse. The categories are withholding, countering, discounting, joking, blocking and diverting, accusing and blaming, judging and criticizing, trivializing, undermining, threatening, name calling, forgetting, ordering, denial and abusive anger. The section on how to respond to these categories is very practical. Additionally, Evans offers guidelines for protecting children from verbal abuse, and for recovery and healing. She also discusses when or whether to stay or leave an abusive marriage. We highly recommend "The Verbally Abusive Relationship."
