Emotional Abuse Cycle Behaviours Explained

Overview:
This course explores the key behaviours that characterise emotional abuse, particularly within the cycle of emotional control. Each module focuses on a specific tactic commonly used by emotionally abusive individuals to create confusion, dependency and distress.
Modules:
Love Bombing
Introduces the initial phase of intense flattery, connection and attention. Helps explain why survivors often describe early relationship experiences as overwhelming and idealised.
Breadcrumbing and the Trauma Bond
Unpacks intermittent reinforcement—where warmth and affection are inconsistently given to maintain control—and shows how this pattern deepens emotional entrapment.
Gaslighting
Explores how a person’s sense of reality is gradually eroded through denial, distortion, and blame. Emphasises the emotional impact of being made to question your own perception.
Discard
Looks at how abusers abruptly detach or devalue the other person—leaving them confused, destabilised and often blamed for the sudden shift in behaviour.
Hoovering
Describes attempts to draw a survivor back into the relationship after discard. Often uses manipulation, false remorse, or appeals to emotion.
The Smear Campaign
Covers the tactic of undermining a person’s reputation to others, often pre-emptively, as a way of isolating and discrediting them.
Conclusion
Encourages reflection on what has been learned and validates the experiences of those who may recognise these patterns in their own lives.