I may have mentioned before that it took me three years to leave my abuser. I tried to leave once but had little resources, no support and four small children, including a newborn. I was convinced to come back out of sheer necessity. For the next three years, I would claw my way out of the paradigm I has known for so long. I would speak with good friends, who were honest with me about the abuse . . . then I turned away from them, cutting them off (my ex-husband convincing me they were evil) . . . then, months later, ask for help, again, from these incredibly patient friends. And on and on the cycle continued. I wonder how discouraged my friends were. My life was a yo-yo of confusion. I knew he was abusive but everything pulled me back. It was like I was in a cult…