Note: Various colleagues are filling in while First Things First President and CEO Lauren Hall is on maternity leave. The following was written by Chris Ownby and published at firstthings.org in August of 2020.
There are not many feelings worse than when someone puts you down, insults you or invalidates you. And a put-down from your own spouse is like a straight-up punch to the psyche. It’s amazing how easy it is to hurt the ones we love the most with our words, but what do you do if you are the one on the receiving end of the verbal blows?
This issue has a certain level of complexity to it, which means we have to approach it with care. Many spouses deliver verbal shots and put-downs to their spouse, unaware of the harm it’s doing. This is Situation A.
Others are well aware and intentional with the harm. This is Situation B. Understand that certain situations of verbal/emotional put-downs may be verbal abuse and often accompany (or are a precursor to) physical abuse.
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