Victims of Abuse

Abuse is approaching epidemic proportions today. We'll mention three common forms of abuse: domestic abuse; child sexual abuse; and bullying. There are others but space is limited.

Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; living together, separated or dating.

Examples of abuse include:

• name-calling or put downs


• keeping a partner from contacting their family or friends


• withholding money


• stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job


• actual or threatened physical harm


• sexual assault


• stalking


• intimidation

Violence can be criminal and includes physical assault (hitting, pushing, shoving, etc.), sexual abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activity), and stalking. Although emotional, psychological and financial abuse are not criminal behaviors, they are forms of abuse and can lead to criminal violence.

Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult or older adolescent. In addition to direct sexual contact, child sexual abuse also occurs when an adult indecently exposes their genitalia to a child, asks or pressures a child to engage in sexual activities, displays pornography to a child, or uses a child to produce child pornography.

Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, fear of things associated with the abuse (including objects, smells, places, doctor's visits, etc.), self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, addiction, self-injury, suicidal ideation, somatic complaints, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, other mental illnesses (including borderline personality disorder) propensity to re-victimization in adulthood, and physical injury to the child, among other problems. Victims of child sex abuse are over six times more likely to attempt suicide and eight times more likely to repeatedly attempt suicide. The abusers are also more likely to commit suicide. Much of the harm caused to victims becomes apparent years after the abuse happens.

Sexual abuse by a family member is a form of incest, and results in more serious and long-term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest.

Bullying is a form of abuse. It involves repeated acts over time attempting to create or enforce one person's (or group's) power over another person (or group), thus an "imbalance of power". The "imbalance of power" may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target. Bullying types of behavior are often rooted in a would-be bully's inability to empathize with those whom he or she would target.

In all cases of ongoing abuse of any form, the primary objective is to get help. We've compiled a listing of resources available by telephone or on-line that victims can use. These resources are respect your privacy and are equipped and trained to guide the victim to safety. Click here to see the list of resources.

The context of our mission is to provide relief for people who are suffering from abuse from the past. Prior abuse exists primarily in the memories of the victims. Yet when the victim replays those memory, which is often done, it can be as traumatic as experiencing the abuse again.

But it's not happening again. The pain is a response to the thought about the abuse. Any form of pain that results from a thought can be alleviated greatly if one knows what to do about the thought.

That's what Finding Personal Peace is good at doing – helping one learn how to deal with negative thoughts before the pain is re-created and very often enhanced.

If you're a victim of abuse or you know a victim of abuse, consider Finding Personal Peace as a viable tool. We WILL NOT MAKE YOU RELIVE THE PAIN!!!

God bless,



P.S. Click here for more information about Finding Personal Peace.