The Cycle of Abuse

Honeymoon – This is basically when things are good and there are no abusive behaviors. Partners act sweet and kind, express love and make their partner feel special and cared for.

Tension-building – This is when you start to see those red flags and warning signs. The tension starts to build. There may be some emotional abuse and the partner begins to feel confused and worried. This is a time to reflect on the behaviors, and evaluate the person’s motives and determine if you feel uncomfortable.

Explosion or Abusive – When the warning signs and tension turns into abuse (remember how we define that – pattern, power, control), then we call that the “Explosion Stage”. This is when the abuse is at its worse. The abuser becomes extremely emotionally abusive or physically or sexually violent.

Make-up –After the “explosion” the abuser may apologize, promise it won’t ever happen again, and act very kind and loving. The victim will often believe that the abuse was their fault. This cycle usually repeats itself and the abuse gets worse.

Check out the story of Alex and Taylor and see if you can identify the stages of the cycle of abuse.