Thanks Debbie. What you said means a lot to me. I'm sorry you have to put up with some of the same things. It seems like even the abuse shelters, who acknowledge the seriousness of verbal abuse, put us on the back burner because we aren't dealing with cuts and broken bones.

I was just thinking that maybe the mediation service chose a male mediator for us this time instead of a female so my ex doesn't feel he can so easily intimidate a woman. Maybe it's a good thing. Any time we deal with a woman and he doesn't get his way, it's her fault, she shows favoritism, "he heard" she always rules against the man, etc. It can never be that maybe he's just an *** and doesn't deserve to get his way every damn time.