Seven years after separating from my abuser, a nervous breakdown revealed the reality that time alone was not going to heal the horrors of my abuse. 

Being separated from my abusive husband didn't make me a domestic violence survivor. It surely didn't release me from the grip of his brainwashing control and the innate power he had over me.

As I started putting my shattered life back together after being separated from my abuser, I still felt his compelling control shaping my every thought and action. I didn't feel like a domestic violence survivor just because I was not longer with my abuser. In fact, I felt like a remote-controlled, confused puppet still shaken by residual influences in my mind. 

​In order to become a true survivor, knowing that the thoughts in my head were mine, I had to:
  • Identify the deeply rooted lies of my abuser that I believed were true
  • Extract the lies
  • Lean on God's strength to defeat the lies and replace them with His word
  • Acknowledge that the trauma experienced from the abuse left physical and emotional scars that needed to be furthered explored
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Eleven years later, being a domestic violence survivor means being free and open to living again. It means I am open to making decisions, building trusting relationships again, and eventually feeling love again. It means that the thoughts in my head are mine and mine only. With the emotional abuse removed from my mind, God's grace and love have taken over. It's a calmness and peace I never thought possible. ​​"
LTC (R) Sue Parisher served twenty-one honorable years on active duty, living a double life of capability and accomplishment in the service while enduring brutality and abusiveness in her twenty-year oppressive marriage.
Co-Author Rebecca Davis is a writer and editor with a passion to help the oppressed. She is the collaborating author for Tear Down This Wall of Silence: Dealing with Sexual Abuse in our Churches (with Dale Ingraham) and Unholy Charade: Unmasking the Domestic Abuser in the Church (with Jeff Crippen). Among Rebecca’s solo books is Untwisting Scriptures that were used to tie you up, gag you, and tangle your mind.

Rock Bottom and Faithless: 
Defeating the Lies of Domestic Abuse with God's Truth

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Published by Post Hill Press.
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If you or someone you know needs help, please visit the link below for amazing resources in helping victims of domestic violence.
What is Domestic Violence? What are the signs? Learn more from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
There are many misconceptions of domestic violence. It's more than bruises, it's complete control mentally.