Programs & Services > Violence Against Women > Issues you may be facing
Issues you may be facing
Is your partner verbally, financially, emotionally, physically and/or sexually abusing you? | How to be safer when your partner abuses you or threatens your life | What to do after you've left an abusive relationship
What to do after you've left an abusive relationship
Many women, after leaving an abusive relationship, find themselves wanting to rebuild their lives. Many say that before meeting and settling down with the person who later abused them, they had aspirations and goals in life.
Since leaving the relationship, however, many feel that they are not the person that they used to be, that they've lost interest in life and things around them, they seem to have no clear direction in life and that they feel numb.
Given what you've been through, these feelings are normal. While in an abusive relationship, for many women, their only focus, day in and day out, hour by hour was to survive the abuse. Being in an abusive relationship can interrupt the goals and aspirations you may have had at one point in your life. Now that the abuse is no longer a day to day concern, it's natural to feel like you don't know where to start with your new life.
What's most important is that you create a balanced lifestyle for yourself. This includes doing more for yourself in areas of personal wellness where you may be lacking, and removing from your life habits and behaviours that may not be healthy and beneficial to your overall well-being.
Tips to Get You
Started on Your Journey to a New Life
- Eat healthy and regularly.
- Exercise regularly. This will help you feel better and
increase your energy level
- Try to get enough sleep and rest.
- Select and participate in an activity, hobby, or something
you will enjoy doing.
- Reward yourself regularly on your accomplishments, no matter
how small they may seem.
- Begin thinking about your future goals and how to become
more self-reliant.
- Surround yourself with positive individuals and/or a community
you affiliate with, that you can trust, and get support.
- Take time to relax and do things that you can gain pleasure
from including reading, poetry, listening to music, visiting
an art gallery.
- Look for ways to increase your knowledge on how to live
a healthy lifestyle.
- Look for ways to gain information on personal wellness.
- Consider doing some volunteer work for a charity that you
admire.
- If you are unemployed, or even if you are employed, consider
seeing a career counsellor to explore your potential and
other opportunities.
- Think positively.
To arrange for counselling, please call our Service Access Unit, Tel: 416.595.9618
