Hi Kim, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
A bit about my background: I have worked in the field of counseling psychology for the last twenty years in both the public and private sector. Over the years I’ve worked with foster care youth, teens in groups homes, domestic violence victims and abusers. My heart has always been the prevention of child abuse. I have always loved writing and was going to go into journalism before psychology but ended up getting my Masters in Psychology in 2004.. I’m currently the President and Founder of the Alliance for Family Wellness, an agency designed for prevention and intervention in intimate partner abuse and child abuse.
Why have you written a book about abusive woman?
I wrote a book on abuse against men because as a Director of an abuse agency I began to notice that men didn’t access counseling services much for domestic violence and I questioned how prevalent abuse was for men. As I began to ask I had many men come forward and tell their story. There stories were so compelling and heart felt I decided that their message needed to be heard. These were masculine successful men who had Shane over the abuse they suffered at the hands of their wives and girlfriends. As I began to tell their stories more men could relate and there emerged a pattern of abusive females and warning signs which I address in my book.
It’s a very interesting topic, what kinds of abuse are you focusing on?
In the book I talk about verbal and emotional, physical, financial and legal
Are the stories in your book all factual? Have you worked with these men directly?
The stories in my book are all factual stories of men who have experienced abuse. Their identities were changed for privacy reasons as one is a very successful CEO and another is a former professional ball player and they want to remain anonymous.
Why don’t we hear about this more often?
We don’t hear about it more often because there is a level of shame and embarrassment for a man to admit abuse by a woman. However, as we talk about it men will become more comfortable telling their own story. The goal is to create balance and honesty when it comes to the abuse issue and making it not about gender. Abuse is wrong regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.
What can a man do in such a situation?
My book Exposing the Abusive Female can be found on amazon in paperback and ebook coming June 1st.. A percentage of proceeds go to victims of IPA
What kind of Stigma exists surrounding abusive females or their victims today?
The stigma still exists that a man abused by a female must be a weak man and one unable to stand up for themselves which is not the case. Most of the men I interviewed for my book were successful men in many areas of their lives and had the ability to stand up for themselves. Many were raised to not hit women
Where can we get a copy of your book, and future work?
Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and Kobobooks.com