It was more than sibling rivalry.
“This is a story about hope, resilience and strength for anyone experiencing psychological abuse.
Laura really does something incredible with this book. She finds the strength and courage to tell a story about abuse – a story that will be all too familiar for millions of men and women – a story that often never gets told. She shines a spotlight on an area that demands our attention. Her brave account of suffering psychological abuse at the hands of an older brother, under the watchful eyes of her mother, is heartbreaking, riveting and empowering. It is a story that needs to be told.”
Dr. Anita Federici, Clinical Psychologist (Foreword)
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My Courage to Tell
My Courage to Tell is the story of one woman’s struggle to overcome a childhood of abuse at the hands of her cruel, bullying brother. Memories of this abuse remain deeply buried until an Aunt dies in Manhattan, leaving an estate Laura Corbeth must settle with her estranged brother. As she tries to administer the estate, Laura is plagued by symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Suppressed memories start to rise to the surface.
Laura begins to remember, and to face, a childhood of psychological and physical abuse. No cuts. No bruises. No scratches. Her brother was sly, constraining her to spit in her face, lick her or perform tickle torture. He took pleasure in dominating her and playing on her fears – relishing his control over his younger sibling. His lies and manipulations terrified her. Witnessing his torture of animals, left no doubt in Laura’s mind that her tormentor would follow through on his threat that he would kill her if she told.
And, where were her parents? Rather than investigating Laura’s deteriorating situation, they believed their son’s continuous lies as he denied his abuse of Laura. When they did catch glimpses of their son’s cruelty, they put it down to sibling rivalry. But it was not sibling rivalry. It was ruthless, relentless, psychological and physical abuse. And, by not dealing with it, her parents were complicit. Unheard, unprotected, Laura was completely on her own. My Courage to Tell is one of the first memoirs to shine a light on abuse from a sibling’s perspective. It also reveals how families that buy into the lies and manipulations, ignore the problems and stonewall, enable the abuser and foster mental illness.
Travel with Laura as she uncovers her past, finds the help and courage to face that past and ultimately confronts her abuser and her family.
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“Psychological and emotional abuse (terms I use interchangeably) are often misunderstood, minimized, or ignored. Over the past decade alone, there have been substantial advances with respect to identifying, preventing and treating those who have suffered sexual and physical abuse; however, there has much less attention to identifying and addressing psychological abuse.
My Courage to Tell makes the invisible visible. Reading Laura’s account of healing and recovery is inspirational and is an outstanding contribution to the literature on psychological abuse in families. Her willingness to confront and share the scary and painful reality of her childhood and detail how various treatment interventions allowed her to work through distressing memories, emotions, and beliefs will pave the way for others who recognize themselves in Laura’s story.
