About Us

About the Author

Mariela Haack is a survivor and the creator of The Abuse Survivor’s Toolbox, a practical recovery framework for adults navigating life after coercive control, emotional abuse, and psychological harm.

Her work is grounded in the belief that survivors do not need inspirational narratives or pressure to “heal faster.” What they often need is structure, clarity, and tools that support steady decision-making when the nervous system and cognitive bandwidth are compromised.

After experiencing the destabilizing effects and trauma of domestic violence, coercive control and high-conflict situations firsthand, Mariela recognized that recovery is not only emotional — it is neurological, cognitive, and logistical. Survivors are frequently expected to remember, explain, organize, and defend their reality while still in survival mode.

What was missing were practical systems that could hold information when the brain could not.

She began developing tools focused on nervous-system stabilization, cognitive clarity, boundary protection, and rebuilding internal trust. These tools are designed to be used in short, manageable sessions and do not require emotional processing, disclosure, or repeated retelling of traumatic experiences.

Those personal systems evolved into The Abuse Survivor’s Toolbox — a growing collection of survivor-designed resources for rebuilding safety, agency, and internal coherence after psychological harm.

The tools shared here are not therapy and not legal advice. They are cognitive and practical supports intended to reduce overwhelm, improve clarity, and strengthen a survivor’s ability to navigate complex realities with greater steadiness and self-direction.

Mariela’s work is for intelligent, capable survivors who want usable tools — not platitudes, fear-based framing, or motivational pressure — as they rebuild their lives on their own terms.

APPROACH

The Abuse Survivor’s Toolbox is built around several core principles:

• Survivors are not broken — they are responding to prolonged stress and coercion.

• Recovery requires safety and clarity before insight and growth.

• Systems should work with the nervous system, not against it.

• Support should reduce cognitive load, not add to it.

  Every resource here is designed with these realities in mind.

  WHAT YOU’LL FIND HERE

  Resources on this site focus on:

  • nervous-system stabilization during and after emotional triggers

  • cognitive clarity when overwhelm or dissociation interferes with thinking

  • boundary protection and decision tools that reduce mental strain

  • digital safety and evidence hygiene

  • rebuilding identity, meaning, and self-trust after coercion

  The goal is not productivity or performance.
  The goal is steadier footing, clearer thinking, and restored agency.

Survivors deserve support that meets them where they are.

About the Project

The Abuse Survivor’s Toolbox™ was created to support people navigating abuse, recovery, and complex systems with clarity, dignity, and agency.

Abuse — especially coercive or psychologically complex abuse — does not only cause emotional harm. It disrupts perception, memory, safety assessment, and access to resources. Survivors are often expected to make high-stakes decisions while under cognitive and physiological strain, in environments that are fragmented, confusing, or actively hostile.

This project exists to meet that reality.

Rather than offering motivational language or prescriptive advice, the Abuse Survivor’s Toolbox™ provides education and structured tools that help survivors understand what they are responding to, organize complex information, assess risk, and plan next steps at their own pace. The focus is not on telling people what they should do, but on restoring the capacity to choose.

All resources in this project are designed to respect survivor autonomy, real-world constraints, and the uneven nature of recovery. They are intended to support — not replace — professional care, advocacy services, or community support, and to help survivors arrive at those resources better prepared and less overwhelmed.

At its core, this project is about restoring agency under pressure — and recognizing that clarity itself is a form of safety.

Click here to partner with us, or If you’d like more information, contact: info@abusesurvivorstoolbox.com.

Follow us on Instagram: @theabusesurvivorstoolbox