ABSTRACT
Sarah prided herself on the fact that the men who patronized her retail establishment referred to her as the “Merchant of Venom” when they thought she wasn’t listening . Like so many other therapists, I had spent countless hours counseling abusive men, but this client was the exception: Sarah-by her own admission-was a male batterer, and proud of it . Her psychiatrist referred her to my aftercare group after discharging her from the local stress unit . Sarah had been admitted after she brutally beat her husband Don with a wrought iron lamp . Don was treated at the local emergency room for some nasty cuts, scrapes, bruises, and abrasions . This was not the first time Don was the recipient of a vicious assault .
