Growing up I was trained to think that relationship abuse was purely physical. This way of thinking that I and so many other young people have come to know has led unhealthy relationship behaviors go unrecognized and tolerated simply because we were not given the tools to identify them.
Forget the typical post-breakup protocol, the healing process from an unhealthy relationship is a long and complicated road. Many victims of relationship abuse suffer in silence. Women can endure consistent, steady patterns of abuse within the walls of their homes, but bravely present a strong, put-together exterior for the world to see.