Two weeks later, with the protection order in place, my abuser called
to tell me that he
was going to my house to kill himself. I gathered my children, notified the police and ran
to a hotel to hide. Within a few hours he arrived at the house. He poured bleach on my clothes,
smashed items in the house, stole some electronics and then started a fire.
The house and our belongings were almost a total loss. In a matter of weeks things had gone from
bad to beyond description. I no longer had basics such as socks and underwear. My children lost
their beds, clothes, and belongings. We lost heirlooms, sentimental items and most of our material
goods. We were terrified and terrorized, but we were glad to be alive. I was fired from my
executive-level position because I was stalked at work and determined to be “a danger to
others”. He stalked us for two years. He threatened to slit my throat multiple times. We
lived like hunted animals. We fled our home in the middle of the night countless times after
threats from him. I learned to function on almost no sleep to keep vigilant watch over my children.
I attended nursing school in an attempt to start a new career and save our family.
Being a successful woman that didn’t fit the stereotype of a domestic violence victim was a
major hurdle for me in respect to getting services. It was by chance that after receiving some counseling
sessions at the Family Advocacy Center that someone mentioned out-patient counseling at Chrysalis.
The counselor that I met at Chrysalis was smart, gentle, understanding and most of all – helpful.
She totally “got” all of the feelings of an abused, hunted, controlled, manipulated woman.
My counselor was a source of information, education and inspiration. I looked forward to our counseling
sessions because I finally felt understood. The road through counseling can be exhausting and emotionally
draining at times, but my counselor helped me so much that the joy of re-birth was more compelling than
any pain I might have felt. With the help of my counselor at Chrysalis I learned to be strong and courageous
again. I learned to understand the profile of an abuser. I gained self-esteem and self-worth that helped me
along finding my new career path to start all over. Today I am a stronger, smarter woman and I couldn’t
have done it without the domestic violence specialty counseling that I received from Chrysalis.
Chrysalis Out-Patient Services, offers Therapeutic Counseling to women and men whose lives have been adversely
affected by domestic abuse. To make an appointment with one of our Chrysalis Out-Patient Therapists please call
our offices at 602-955-9059. Out-Patient Services also provides counseling to children who have witnessed and
experienced domestic abuse.
If you are interested in supporting programs such as the one that helped Jennifer, please visit our
donations page or contact us at 602-955-9059 for further information.
