Coercive Control and Dr. Christine Cocchiola

Dr. Christine Cocchiola, a social work professor and advocate who has made coercive control - not physical violence - the centerpiece of how we understand domestic abuse.

It walks through the Power and Control Wheel, showing how abuse operates through psychological manipulation, isolation, financial control, using children as leverage, intimidation, and legal bullying - long before (or entirely without) physical violence.

A key section explains the abuser's escalation logic: when one method of control stops working, they shift to another. Psychological control fails → they isolate financially. That weakens → they weaponize the children. Separation happens → they abuse through the courts.

Read more in this blog post, which also covers how to recognize abuse in its many forms - including digital surveillance, post-separation litigation, and covert tactics that leave no visible marks - and closes with eight practical strategies for reclaiming autonomy, from documenting incidents and rebuilding support networks to seeking coercive control-informed legal and therapeutic help.