What happens when the person who should protect you becomes your greatest threat?

How do you survive coercive control, domestic abuse, and suicide loss? Counselor Patricia Gordon Stevens reveals how to reclaim your life.

 On Aging with Purpose and Passion, host Beverley Glazer MA, CCC, sits down with counselor and author Patricia Gordon Stevens to trace a harrowing path from a high-control marriage to a life of service and resilience.

Patricia opens up about the chilling reality of coercive control—from being marched out of a university class by a partner to the calculated bravery required to leave when control turns dangerous. Her story takes an even deeper turn as she discusses the back-to-back deaths of her sister and her son to suicide, exploring how the world responds to "stigmatized" grief.

Inside the Episode:

• Identifying Coercive Control: The red flags of domestic abuse that go beyond physical violence.
• Safety Planning: Why the most dangerous moment is the decision to leave—and how to do it safely.
• Grief Without Stigma: Navigating the specific isolation and "silence" of suicide loss.
• The Power of Study: How returning to psychology in midlife restored Patricia’s identity and income.
• Madness in Memphis: Using storytelling and fiction to expose the truth about domestic violence.

For similar episodes on reinvention in later life check out  #104 and 154 of Aging with Purpose and Passion

Resources: 

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Patricia Gordon Stevens – Author & Owner, Maxwell House Counselling

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Beverley Glazer, MA – Reinvention Strategist & Host

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