Marianne (name changed to preserve confidentiality) was married for 6 years to an emotionally abusive husband. The emotional abuse included criticizing, ridiculing, jealous control, purposeful ignoring, and threats of harm. The problems with jealous control were particularly demoralizing with strict demands about clothing, make-up, telephone use, time with friends, any contact with the opposite sex, and travel outside the home.

After Marianne had been divorced from her abusive husband for ten years, she was still experiencing anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, frequent intrusive memories of the abuse, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Marianne decided to try forgiveness recovery therapy and courageously took on the challenging work involved. She was particularly enthusiastic about giving up resentment toward her former abusive husband. After the forgiveness therapy, Marianne no longer had difficulty with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. She also discovered a remarkable increase in self-esteem, energy, and joy. Marianne found release from the burden of "the lost years of the abuse" and optimism for the future. She changed from a depressed, anxious victim of domestic emotional abuse to a joyful survivor.

Reed, G. (2004). A Forgiveness Intervention with Post-Relationship Psychologically Abused Women. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.