Journals To Track The Craziness of Abuse

Tracking your abuse can establish patterns and save you from a bad situation. What is so important about tracking abuse? Too often, victims of abuse are gaslighted into believing that the treatment they are experiencing is not abuse and that they are the crazy one.

There are numerous benefits that derive from journaling about a relationship you feel may be abusive:

Validation. You can look back and get an overview of what has been happening. Abuse happens in cycles mixed with intermittent reinforcement to draw you back in – that is the part we tend to forget. If you live in a world where “That never happened.” is the standard response to your concerns, journaling will help you see that clearly – it will give you the validation to move past it. Patterns will quickly be unmasked and you will easily be able to recognize the modus operandi of abuse.

Evidence. Patterns mean more than a single event. Showing evidence that a particular action or event was a regular occurrence can offer protection from the things they claim you did or said. Noting dates and times, saving messages, both in writing and on tape, and taking photographs will all provide substance over conjecture. Save it all.

Leverage. If you are able to capture your abuser acting badly, your lawyer may be able to introduce it in an effort to promote cooperation – i.e., “if you don’t want this released inside the courtroom, let’s settle now…”

Guidance. Learn what to look for and how to pivot. All in a beautifully compact 6×9 notebook.