The Hidden Cries Behind Her Smile
One woman's journey to finding her voice as she unpacked all the trauma that she endured in her emotionally, verbally and mentally abusive marriage
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INTRODUCTION Emotional, mental and verbal abuse can have a profound impact on a person’s life. It can leave one to question their every thought and their very existence. When one walks on eggshells, is gas-lighted, and is punished for their feelings, it leads to traumatic experiences that many do not understand, which in turn leads to extreme feelings of loneliness and isolation. People often see abuse as only being slapped around or severely beaten, leaving a person who has been emotionally, mentally or verbally abused to feel as if they are not a victim of abuse at all. Because of the way that our society labels abuse, many people who suffer from emotional, mental, and verbal abuse feel that they are crazy for even considering the possibility that they could be a victim of abuse. In reality, their days and often times their years of living with emotional, mental and verbal abuse has changed the person that they are. It has left them feeling dazed and extremely tired, with no confidence at all in who they are. The abuse has stripped them of all self-esteem, the voice that they once had is gone, their mind is scarred from all of the trauma that they have been through, and they are confused most of the time. The abuse has left them to question even their own opinions and thoughts, leaving no sure feeling at all within themselves. They may even question if things are really that bad, for, surely, they can’t be one of those women who is a victim of abuse. Denial is the victims number one sign that abuse has been wreaking havoc on her life, for denial has become one of her many survival mechanisms. This book is filled with one woman’s journal entries as she began to unpack the trauma that emotional, mental and verbal abuse from her husband was having on her life. It is a collection of some of her deepest thoughts of fear and pain as she began to put a voice to all that was buried within her. In addition, you’ll find journals of her hope and healing, as she began to find strength in the realization that she was worthy of so much more.
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About the Book
The Hidden Cries Behind Her Smile is a book filled with journal entries from one woman’s journey of discovering that she was living in an emotionally, mentally and verbally abusive marriage. In this book you will find some of her deepest and rawest emotions as she began to unpack all of the pain that this abuse had left on her mind and her heart. This type of abuse is one that is not talked about a lot because you cannot see the marks that it leaves on one’s body. In the pages of this book the writer paints a picture of the wounds and the scars that emotional, mental and verbal abuse does to a person’s heart and mind. You can almost hear her cries as you read through her journal entries, the cries that were hidden behind her smile for so long.
About the Author
Felicity is a woman who was married at the age of 19 and has been married for 30 years. She has devoted three decades of her life to her husband and kids, being a stay at home mom, homemaker and home schooling her children. Throughout her marriage she always knew that something wasn’t right in her relationship but she never quite knew what it was. It wasn’t until 25 years into her marriage that she began to discover that she was in an emotionally, mentally and verbally abusive relationship. During this time she began doing research on the topic of emotional, mental and verbal abuse. This new revelation began opening up many painful wounds inside of her as it painted a new picture of what her marriage had done to her emotionally, mentally and physically. To express her feelings she began writing about the pain that was surfacing inside of her. During this season in her life she knew that she wasn’t the only one who was going through the deep pain of this hidden abuse, which led to her desire to put her writings into a book to share with others. Her hope is that her words will help others feel seen who are living in an emotionally, mentally and verbally abusive relationship. Her prayer is that those who read her words will know that they are not alone as they navigate through healing from this painful and hidden abuse.