INDIVIDUAL CONCEPTS AND ACTIVITIES
Choose one place to begin.
No activity requires disclosure or completion. Each heading has its own linkable address for sharing the exact concept without sending someone through the entire workbook.
CONCEPT 01
Your knowing matters
Abuse is not limited to physical injury. A pattern may reduce freedom, safety, privacy, resources, relationships, movement, or the ability to make ordinary choices. Confusion can be an effect of manipulation, fear, exhaustion, or repeated contradiction - not proof that your concern is invalid.
Private reflection options
- What has become harder to do freely?
- What do I change to prevent a reaction?
- What does my body notice before I have words?
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 02
Coercive control
Coercive control may involve isolation, monitoring, intimidation, rules, humiliation, punishment, sexual coercion, threats, manipulation of children or systems, and control of daily choices. The pattern and its impact matter even when each act appears ordinary to outsiders.
Private reflection options
- Rules I am expected to follow
- Consequences I anticipate if I disagree
- Choices that no longer feel fully mine
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 03
Stalking and unwanted pursuit
Stalking may include repeated unwanted contact, appearing at places, surveillance, gifts that create fear, impersonation, tracking, third-party contact, property interference, or threats. Trust the safety impact while seeking individualized help.
Private reflection options
- Behaviors, dates, accounts, places, or witnesses
- What changed after I requested space or no contact
- Safer people, routes, or locations
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 04
Online harassment
Harassment can move across text, email, social media, payment apps, gaming, work systems, shared storage, and newly created accounts. Engaging solely to create proof can increase contact; preservation and reporting choices should center safety.
Private reflection options
- Platforms or accounts involved
- What can be preserved without increasing danger
- Who can help review privacy or reporting options
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 05
Financial abuse
Financial abuse can include taking income, creating debt, withholding necessities, sabotaging work, forcing signatures, hiding information, controlling benefits, or blocking access to money and documents.
Private reflection options
- Accounts, debts, income, property, or benefits to understand
- Documents I may need copies of
- A qualified person who can help
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 06
Post-separation abuse
Separation may not end control. Harm can continue through stalking, litigation, parenting exchanges, reputation attacks, money, pets, property, technology, or repeated emergencies. Leaving can increase danger in some situations, which is why individualized planning matters.
Private reflection options
- Contact points that continue
- Transitions or events that need planning
- Ways to reduce direct contact safely
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 07
Escalation
Increasing frequency, stalking, strangulation, weapons, forced sex, threats involving children or pets, suicide or homicide threats, separation-related rage, or disregard for orders may signal urgent risk. No checklist predicts the future.
Private reflection options
- What has intensified or changed
- Who needs to know now
- What would tell me to call emergency services
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 08
A reality record
Separate direct observations, personal impact, and questions. You can record exact words or actions, date, place, injuries or damage, witnesses, technology involved, and what happened next without diagnosing motives.
Private reflection options
- What I directly observed
- What changed in my life or safety
- What I want an advocate or attorney to help assess
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.
CONCEPT 09
A supported next step
Options may include confidential advocacy, medical care, legal information, workplace or school support, technology-safety help, a trusted person, or emergency services. The safest next step may be small.
Private reflection options
- One person or service I may contact
- A safer time, device, or location
- What I want help understanding
Write only what is safe to keep. Skip, adapt, pause, or use a trained advocate, attorney, licensed provider, qualified interpreter, or emergency service when appropriate.