The Relationship Between Negative Self-Talk and Grandiosity

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Jan 14, 2013 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

Remember Kerry? We wrote about him a couple weeks ago. He and his brother-in-law had a flare-up because Kerry used some very sharp language to make his point. He felt entitled to “express” himself. His wife, Penny, was exhausted with a lifetime of this sort of thing....

Normal Reactions To False Accusations

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 27, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

This poor woman sat in my office weeping; she thought she was going crazy. We’ll call her Caroline. Here’s what happened: Her husband, we’ll call him Phil, decided that she was having an affair. She insisted she wasn’t, but he refused to believe her. Attacking a...

Verbal Abuse Scale From 8 to 10

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 23, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

Part 3 of the Scale of Verbal Abuse (the worst)

Verbal Abuse Scale From 8 to 10

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 21, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

This is Part III of the Verbal Abuse Scale 8 – “You S.O.B” This is overt name-calling. There’s no other label to pin on it but verbal abuse. And there is never any excuse for it no matter how frustrated you are and no matter how badly abused you have been by the...

Verbal Abuse Scale From 4 to 6

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 18, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

Part 2 of the Verbal Abuse Scale (middle)

Verbal Abuse Scale From 4 to 7

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 14, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

Part II of the Verbal Abuse Scale 4 – “What you accused me of is dumb.” This is much worse than #1 because it is an overt statement, not implicit, but explicit that the person you’re speaking to is dumb. Don’t use pejorative language on your loved ones! Although you...

Verbal Abuse Scale From 1 to 3 (Out of 10)

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 12, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

On a 10 point scale of increasing verbal abuse, here are numbers 1-3. The same examples are covered here as in the written...

Verbal Abuse Scale From 1-3 (Out of 10)

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Dec 12, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

There was a humorous article in the newspaper about how a person manages to secure table reservations at restaurants when the hostess has been telling other people that there will be nothing available for three weeks. The gentleman in question says, “I want a...

Verbal Abuse or Being Polite: It’s the Extra Words

by DrDeb Hirschhorn | Nov 28, 2011 | Verbal and Emotional Abuse

I was delighted: more feedback! I love opening emails from people or seeing blog comments; I like that sense of conversation. When people post, I know I’m not talking to myself. Imagine my surprise in reading a comment that I shouldn’t have said in a recent...