I could have written that paragraph myself, except that the company founder/my boss was male. He didn't understand that when I quit my job in April, it was because he mistreated me and others and dumped a lot of extra work on me for the same salary. When I started to set boundaries because he tried to load me with even more work (still no raise), he completely snapped and made a scene in a café. He sees me as a traitor, when if he'd only treated me better I would likely still be there.

I probably stayed longer than I should have too, but it had taken me a long time to find that job. I was worried if I quit I wouldn't find anything else, especially since the economy here is not good.

First of all, I would say, try not to be hard on yourself. You were taking care of your best interest, protecting yourself from the stress of being overworked, mistreated and underpaid. Staying in that situation can ruin your mental, emotional and physical health quite quickly.

Like you, I was pretty traumatized by the whole situation for a while. In my case I've had a lot of jobs, but never one that was that bad as far as how I was treated. I would come home from meetings in tears regularly. Basically he had to tear down at least one person in every meeting, I think he did it to control people and make us fear losing our job.

I have been back at the job search now for several months. Unfortunately the economy is crap, and it hasn't gone so well. I've gotten some short-term freelance work, but nothing permanent. Still, I am doing my best to stick with it and have faith that something will work out. That's really all you can do. Sending lots of hugs and strength your way.