-
Ask Bon: How do I balance validating somebody’s feelings with protecting myself or my children from emotional abuse?
Q: How do I balance validating somebody’s feelings with protecting myself or my children from emotional abuse? A: This is an excellent question and one that I have grappled with for years. My wife’s behavior before I started down the path to effectiveness was off-the-charts and was affecting my children’s feelings of safety in our household. Numerous times I felt the only solution to protecting my children was to leave my wife and apply for full custody of our children. When my wife was “acting out” and/or in a rage around the children, I would take the kids to the library or to events around town. I worried that they…