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Critical Thinking Paper Taylor Doud Emotional Abuse 1
Critical Thinking Paper Taylor Doud Emotional Abuse 1
Taylor Doud
Mansfield University
November 6, 2022
When someone hears the words abuse, we often tend to imagine that of a physical,
sexual, or violent nature. But abuse comes in many forms, and one we often overlook due to its
attitude that is designed to control, subdue, punish, or isolate another person through the use of
humiliation or fear.” (Karakurt and Silver) On the topic of emotional abuse, we will discover
how devastating its effects are, the symptoms of emotional abuse, and possible treatments for
If emotional abuse is nonphysical, then how can we even detect what it is and where it
comes from? Emotional abuse “targets the emotional and psychological well-being of the victim.
Emotional abuse can include verbal assault, dominance, control, isolation, ridicule, or the use of
intimate knowledge for degradation” (Karakurt and Silver) Emotional abuse does not
discriminate and can be found in multiple types of relationships such as friends, parents,
partners, and even colleagues. Neil Jacobson and John Gottman, who is well-known for his work
with relationships and marriage, developed an emotional abuse questionnaire with four
categories of abuse that included sexual coercion, attempts to isolate the partner and make them
feel lonely, destruction to pets or property as an intimidation tactic, and degradation both
publicly and privately. Sexual coercion often looks like one partner who is made to feel
“ashamed, guilty, or afraid to refuse” the other partner and this can happen many times without
“Jacobson and Gottman found severe emotional abuse were more likely to drive women
out of a relationship than severe physical abuse.” (Karakurt and Silver) There are even some
forms of physical acts that can be considered emotional abuse because they insinuate actual
physical violence. Some examples of this include punching a wall, throwing things, raising a
hand or shaking a fist, and even recklessly driving with the victim in the vehicle.
After seeing all the ways emotional abuse can manifest itself, it is important to see the
way this type of abuse can affect those exposed to it. Emotional abuse can often happen to
children from their parents. Studies have found too that children exposed to an emotionally
adolescence and adulthood. (Bell and Higgins) Not only does experiencing emotional abuse at a
young age predispose the victim to repeat relationship patterns, but it also exposes the victim to
person is unwilling to experience and attempts to avoid unwanted private experiences (e.g.,
with psychological distress and numerous clinical problems including substance abuse,
somatization, self-harm behaviors, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.” (Bell and Higgins)
Experiential avoidance was also linked to possible emotional inhibitions and aggressions.
Emotional abuse often creates psychological distress which can also affect one's daily life in the
ways they cope and problem-solve. (Bell and Higgins) We also see in children who have been
emotionally abused or neglected that their cognitive abilities have been seen with deficits which
may lead to difficulty in emotional processing. Along with these difficulties in emotional
processing, we also see an increased risk for anxiety and depression. (Young and Widom)
If one is exposed to such emotional abuse either early on in their life or during adulthood,
there are some steps one can take to help reduce the effects or treat their current state. In early
childhood, it may be hard to detect some of the abuse tactics since we cannot physically see
them, so it is critical to watch for warning signs both from the parent's or caregiver’s abusive
behaviors and the children's reactions to them, such as their self-esteem, self-talk, fears,
regressions, and social changes. (Idaho Youth Ranch) If we recognize these behaviors, treatment
is often needed and it depends on the severity of the situation, which means all treatments must
be tailored to each specific situation. If the abuse came from a lack of needs provided, certain
community resources may be utilized in order to help fulfill those needs, such as health care
expense programs, supplementary food programs, childcare providers, and even parenting
resources. Treatment becomes more intrinsic when the abuse is psychologically mal intended.
For the child, they would most likely need to be separated from the abuser and mental health
support would be recommended for all parties, both offending and non-offending. (Botash) In
adulthood, these wounds can stem from early childhood or from a more recent adult relationship.
An outpatient trauma focused clinic created a therapy framework that attempts to build trust,
attachment, and relationships, tolerance of intense emotions, and a sense of self, as their
treatment for these maltreatment issues. This institute claims that “these capacities were either
not acquired in early childhood or were built in distorted ways because of the lack of adequately
responsive and consistent emotional support in childhood.” (Grossman et al.) They break down
their framework in four parts to focus on “relationship (working within a relational frame),
regulation (increasing self-regulatory capacity), parts (working with dissociative parts), and
narrative (identity development, integration, and meaning-making of traumatic and other life
experiences through narrative work as both therapist and client come to construct a shared
Emotional abuse is complex and has many effects on both a child's and adult's well-
being. Abuse is never acceptable, and the effects are often incredibly intense. Its ability to sneak
by unseen makes it harder to cope with but knowing there is effective treatment gives us hope
Bell, Kathryn M., and Lorrin Higgins. “The Impact of Childhood Emotional Abuse and
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493441/, 10.3390/bs5020154.
www.childabusemd.com/treatment/treatment-emotional-abuse.shtml.
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2017-01147-002.html.
www.youthranch.org/blog/understanding-emotional-child-abuse.
Karakurt, Günnur, and Kristin E Silver. “Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships: The Role
of Gender and Age.” Violence and Victims, vol. 28, no. 5, 2013, pp. 804–21,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876290/.
Young, Joanna Cahall, and Cathy Spatz Widom. “Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse and
Neglect on Emotion Processing in Adulthood.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 38, no. 8,