This is Where I End the Cycle of Violence!
Julie's Story 

by Lana Zakary Culliver

Today, Julie is a Registered Nurse in the Operating Room at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, California.  She has also taken on the responsibility of delivering training classes to her fellow employees at the hospital in the area of Self Care, not because it meant an increase in pay, but because she felt she had learned something she needed to teach to others. 

Julie has also recently enrolled in classes to complete her Master's Degree so that she can officially become a Nurse Educator.  Along with that, she spends her time being the mother of three children, Co-Chair of the San Diego Family Justice Center's VOICES Committee and a member of the Speak for Success Women's Leadership Graduate Speaker's Bureau. 

To meet Julie, you would be moved by her smile and charisma, and unless she shared her story with you personally, you would never imagine the pain she has endured to reach this point in her life.

When Julie does tell her story, she usually begins it by continued here

By Dana Bristol-Smith

We've all heard the saying sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. I don't know who came up with it but it is a big fat lie!

Domestic violence typically starts with words - words like you aren't good enough, smart enough, dumb or stupid.

Words can frequently be used to control behavior, to isolate the person from friends and family. Words can escalate into threats of bodily harm. This can go on for days, weeks, or even years before physical abuse starts. In some situations, there is never physical abuse, but the abuse can be mental and emotional and can leave wounds that are very deep.

Women who have been in abusive relationships oftentimes have their own continued here

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