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By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE Childhood Domestic Violence Teaches Us to Be Fearful For a child who grows up experiencing adversities in childhood, FEAR often dominates that young person’s view of the world—a worldview that is often carried forward into adulthood. So, where does the fear originate from? “In a home full of pain, quarreling, or coldness, children are chronically stressed...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE Childhood Domestic Violence Causes Feelings of Hopelessness Growing up with childhood domestic violence makes us contend with hopelessness. Hopelessness can make us feel aimless and powerless in an overwhelming world. This mirrors the feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness we grew up dealing with in our own homes. Feelings of hopelessness can have a...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE Childhood Domestic Violence Can Make Us Feel Alone Sometimes the loneliest people are the ones you would never suspect are lonely. How could someone surrounded by friends, active in social activities, and successful in professional pursuits be disconnected from others or feel emotionally ALONE? CDV can teach us lies that make us feel unloved, worthless,...

By Denise Restauri Labels Undermine Our Identities and Success Meg Columbia-Walsh, a CDV survivor, tells Forbes why she doesn't like labels, even those that denote success, such as entrepreneur or CEO. Walsh believes that these labels are just a burden, a drag on one's self-esteem, and that they don't accurately describe who you are, only what you have done. Read her full piece HERE....

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE The Anger that Comes from Childhood Domestic Violence Serves a Purpose ANGER is often a dominant emotion for adults who grew up experiencing adversity in their childhood home. Much of the work we’ve done has been to define that anger, understand its origins, and help people overcome it. Here, I aim to explore the underlying essence of anger, both...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE Sadness is a Dominant Emotion for Those of Us Who Grew Up with Childhood Domestic Violence People often imagine Anger to be one of the most typical responses to growing up with adversity in one’s childhood home. But SADNESS is also a dominant emotion. We grieve all the things we lost as children: our innocence, our sense of safety, and our right to have a...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE Childhood Domestic Violence Has Taught You Compassion and Empathy As I mentioned in my book INVINCIBLE, growing up facing adversity in childhood gives you an exceptional ability to perceive and empathize with what others are feeling. You have a remarkable intuition. And this is not just a blanket statement. It is a scientific fact, evidenced in recent...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE  Childhood Adversity Teaches Us to Feel Guilt at Inappropriate Times When you grow up experiencing adversity in childhood, there are a variety of related impacts. GUILT is a common LIE you learn to believe. But it loses its power the moment you realize its nature and where it came from. By knowing the TRUTH about GUILT, you can begin to overcome it. Click...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE  Childhood Domestic Violence Teaches Us the Lies that We're Unloved and Unlovable When you grow up experiencing childhood adversity, and particularly Childhood Domestic Violence (CDV), you often learn the LIE that you’re UNLOVED. And moreover, you learn to believe that you don’t really want love anyway, because it only leads to violence, pain, and...

By Brian F. Martin, Author of INVINCIBLE  Experiencing Childhood Domestic Violence Doesn't Mean You Have Any Less of a Right to Be Free On Memorial Day, as we honor those who gave their lives to protect the fundamental premise our nation was founded on – that we as individuals are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among them the right to life, freedom, having a voice, and the capacity to...