What Actually Happens In an Online Emotional Abuse Recovery Group
TL;DR: An online emotional abuse recovery group is eight weeks with the same five or six women, 90 minutes a week, online. You're never required to tell your whole story out loud, and you never have to share anything you've written. The eight weeks move through understanding the abuse cycle, naming the specific behaviors, working with the feelings underneath, rebuilding self-esteem, setting boundaries, building support, and planning forward. Every member gets a 62-page fillable workbook that follows the same arc. The next cohort meets Wednesdays 4:30–6:00 PM CT (5:30–7:00 PM ET), starting October 21, 2026, and registration closes October 14. Open to women located in Louisiana, Florida, and Virginia. $1,000, or $900 paid in full, or two payments of $500. Book a free 15-minute consult to find out if it fits.
If you've been reading about online group therapy for emotional abuse, you've probably also pictured the worst version of it. A screen of strangers. Your turn coming around. Somebody asking you to describe the thing that happened, in detail, while five women you've never met watch your face.
That's not what this is. And the fact that you're worried about it makes sense, because you've spent a long time managing how you come across. You've been told you're "too sensitive," or "too much," or that you're "overreacting," and you learned to edit yourself before anyone else could do it for you. Being asked to be honest is a big ask when honesty is the thing that got used against you.
So here's the plain version of what happens.
Does emotional abuse only happen with a partner?
Emotional abuse doesn't only happen with a romantic partner. It happens with a parent, a sibling, an adult child, a close friend, a boss. Women often talk themselves out of getting help because the word "abuse" sounds like it belongs to someone whose situation looks worse than theirs, or because it wasn't a marriage, or because nobody ever got physical.
If someone made you doubt your own memory, ignored your feelings until you stopped bringing them, criticized you over small things until everything felt like a test, cut you off from people who love you, or handed you the blame every time something went wrong, that's the pattern this group works on. You don't need the “right” word for it before you start.
What is an online emotional abuse recovery group?
It's a closed group, which means the same women start and finish together. Nobody joins in week four. There's a cap of six. Eight sessions, 90 minutes each, on video.
Closed and small are both deliberate. You're not re-introducing yourself every week or recalibrating for a new person. By session three you know who's in the room, and that's usually the point where women stop performing.
The next cohort runs Wednesdays, 4:30–6:00 PM CT (5:30–7:00 PM ET): October 21, October 28, November 4, November 11, November 18, then a break for Thanksgiving week, then December 2, December 9, and December 16.
What happens in a group therapy session?
Every session follows the same shape, and the shape doesn't change week to week. We start by settling in, with a few minutes to arrive and a short check-in where you can pass. I introduce the week's concept, then you work the matching section of your workbook right there in the session, which is different from trying to do it alone at 11pm. Most of the time goes to the group talking it through together. We close with a summary, something to sit with for the week if you want to, and one word each about how you're leaving.
If you're someone who likes a degree of structure and predictability, this group provides it.
What does the eight-week group cover?
The eight weeks cover the abuse cycle, the specific behaviors, the feelings underneath, self-esteem, boundaries, support, and moving forward.
The cycle. Idealization, devaluation, discard, and hoovering. Seeing the pattern as a structure instead of as a series of things that happened to you, which is the point where a lot of women stop blaming themselves for missing the early signs.
The specific behaviors. Gaslighting, lack of empathy, manipulation, a constant need for admiration, being used, being criticized over trivial things, having your needs treated as inconvenient, isolation from friends and family, and blame that always landed on you. Naming them individually does something that "it was a bad relationship" never does.
The feelings. Anger, grief, fear, confusion, betrayal, guilt, relief, and love, sometimes in the same hour. This part includes mapping how your body held all of it, because emotional abuse doesn't stay in your head.
Rebuilding self-esteem. Your actual strengths, with specific evidence, because the abuse ran on the idea that you didn't have any.
Boundaries. What kinds exist, which of yours got crossed, what you want them to be going forward, and how you'd say it out loud.
Support. What a real support system looks like after it got dismantled, and how to ask for help in a way that gets you something useful.
Moving forward. What you want, including the dreams that got quiet years ago, and how to notice when you're drifting back toward what feels familiar.
What’s in the emotional abuse recovery workbook?
Every member gets a 62-page fillable workbook that follows the same seven-part sequence, so what you're working on lines up with where the group is.
It opens with two things: a short self-assessment, ten statements you score, that gives you a number instead of a feeling when you're trying to figure out whether this was "bad enough." It also has a "Why now?" page to help you identify why you're starting this work at this point in your life, and what you want to be different. You can come back to that page at any time to remind yourself why you’re doing this.
Then it's the cycle, the behaviors, the emotion work including a body scan and focused journaling prompts, the strengths inventory, the boundary exercises with space to write the actual script for what you'd say, the support mapping, and the goals and vision work at the end.
Nothing in it is required, and you never have to share what you've written. Some women fill in every page, some use three exercises and leave the rest, and both of those are absolutely fine.
Do I have to share my story in group therapy?
No. You won't be asked to narrate your entire relationship start to finish. You won't be asked to prove it happened. You won't be asked to give advice to anybody else, or to take theirs, which is one of the ways therapy groups differ from mutual support groups.
You can pass whenever you want to. Sitting in a group and listening while other women say things you haven't been able to say out loud is not a wasted session. For a lot of women, it's the session where something shifts, because it's the first time the pattern gets described by someone else who truly understands.
Who can join? Women in Louisiana, Florida and Virginia
Women 21 and over recovering from emotional abuse or a controlling relationship, located in Louisiana, Florida, or Virginia. Autistic and AuDHD women are welcome, and so are women who have never thought about themselves in those terms. (I don't diagnose autism or ADHD.)
It's not the right fit if you're currently in physical danger, or in active crisis, or looking for a group that will tell you whether to leave. A recovery group isn't a decision-making committee. It also isn't a replacement for individual therapy, though plenty of members do both.
How much does emotional abuse group therapy cost?
It is $1,000 total. Here's the math I'd want someone to show me: eight sessions of 90 minutes is twelve hours of group time, which works out to $125 a session, or $112.50 if you pay in full. One 55-minute individual session with me is $250, so each group session costs half of an individual session, runs 90 minutes instead of 55, and comes with the 62-page workbook. The two-payment option is there so you don't have to find it all at once.
How do I know if group therapy is right for me?
If you're unsure, the consult is where we figure that out. Fifteen minutes, free, with no sales pitch. You tell me what's going on, then I tell you honestly whether this group is right for you right now or whether something else would serve you better. I want you to get the kind of support that fits for you, whether that’s with me or another resource.
Registration closes Wednesday, October 14, 2026, with only six seats available.
