She is 34 years old and married to John for the past 16 years. Had to marry him because she was pregnant and their parents said they would disown them if they didn’t get married. It all started to go wrong after she told him she was pregnant, (son is 15 yrs. old now). She knew her husband wanted her to have an abortion and then he would have dumped her but her parents were sort of friends and he had no choice. They met at high school, he was very handsome and popular. He told her he loved her and that if she loved him she would make love to him. She had no idea about contraception at the time. After their first child her mum helped out, she was always on hand to give her good advice and show her how best to take care of the baby. When she became pregnant less than a year after James was born, her mum said she had to do it on her own. John had to drop out of uni and get a job in the bank. He hated it and that’s when the drinking started and became violent and controlling. It was only when she got speaking to a woman from her church about John’s anger that she realised that he has been raping her for most of her married life. She is afraid of his temper, he has never hurt the children. She has had a few bumps and bruises but nothing life changing. She cannot come into the counselling agency for face to face counselling, he keeps track of where she goes. She does not know if she can commit to regular counselling. Since the beginning of therapy, she has only been available to talk on the phone every second or third week. She is very nervous and does not seem to be able to engage in the counselling process for fear her husband will find out. *