How Clinicians Use These Resources
Built for the work
you're already doing.
Emotional abuse is present in a significant proportion of the cases therapists see, and recognition is consistently the documented first step toward help-seeking. These resources were built to support that moment.
As a session handout
Print the warning signs checklist or phrases guide and work through it with a client who is struggling to name what they're experiencing. The research grounding gives the document credibility with clients who need to see it in writing.
As a take-home resource
Send clients home with the neuroscience fact sheet after a session on trauma response. Seeing the neurological basis of what they're experiencing -- amygdala changes, HPA axis dysregulation -- can be profoundly validating.
In your waiting room
All printable resources are designed to be clear and readable without clinical context. The warning signs checklist and phrases guide work well as waiting room materials for practices that specialize in trauma or domestic violence.
Printable Client Resources
Free to print.
Free to share.
All resources below are free to reproduce for clinical purposes. No attribution required, though it is appreciated. Print as many copies as you need.
Warning Signs of Emotional Abuse
Covers gaslighting, isolation, criticism, control, blame-shifting, and patterns in the client's own behavior. Grounded in peer-reviewed research on coercive control and psychological abuse.
Useful for: clients who are still in the relationship and questioning their experience. Works well as a session tool or take-home.
↗ View + Print FreeThe Neuroscience of Emotional Abuse
Summarizes peer-reviewed findings on amygdala enlargement, hippocampal volume reduction, HPA axis dysregulation, and documented health outcomes. Key studies cited throughout.
Useful for: psychoeducation sessions on trauma response. Particularly effective with clients who need external validation that their symptoms are real.
↗ View + Print FreePhrases to Watch For
14 phrases commonly used in emotionally abusive relationships, each with the documented tactic it represents and an explanation of what it does psychologically.
Useful for: clients who are minimizing or rationalizing a partner's behavior. Having the language named concretely can interrupt that pattern.
↗ View + Print FreeCould This Be Emotional Abuse?
A research-grounded online reflection tool with two paths -- one for people experiencing a relationship and one for allies. Personalised results with resources and next steps.
Useful for: clients who are ambivalent about whether what they're experiencing "counts." Can be assigned between sessions as a structured reflection exercise.
→ Take the QuizThe Research Context
Why recognition
matters clinically.
Emotional abuse is documented as the most common form of domestic violence -- present in 91% of cases -- and among the most damaging. PTSD rates in survivors of psychological abuse reach 63.8%, comparable to combat veterans. The physical health consequences are significant and persistent.
Despite this, emotional abuse remains the form least likely to be recognized by the person experiencing it. The mechanisms that make it effective -- gaslighting, isolation, gradual escalation -- also make it invisible. Many clients arrive in therapy years into an abusive relationship without the language for what is happening to them.
Recognition is consistently the documented precursor to help-seeking. Resources that give clients language and research grounding directly support that moment -- which is why we built them.
Research-Backed Articles
The full library.
Free to share.
All articles are grounded in peer-reviewed research and written in plain language. Share links directly with clients or use as reference material for your own clinical work.
Work With Us
Let's connect.
We are actively looking to connect with therapists, trauma specialists, and domestic violence advocates who work with survivors of emotional abuse. If you have clients who would benefit from these resources, or would like to be added to our professional network, we would love to hear from you.
Reach us at
emotionalabuseisstillabuse
@gmail.com
We respond to every message from clinicians and advocates.