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PA Enterprise

Emotional Abuse in the workplace:

are you working for an abusive boss?

It can be challenging to understand the line between a healthy relationship

with your supervisor and an unhealthy, abusive one that leads to a
dysfunctional work environment. Once you can identify the signs, however,

it can become much easier to feed the positive supervisory relationships
and put an end to those that only serve to hurt and cut you down, both as a

worker and as an individual.

Here are several sure-fire signs that you are employees in front of others.
dealing with an emotionally abusive supervisor My abusive boss would constantly criticize
or boss.
my coworkers when we were in one-on-one
1. Your Boss Treats You With Disgust meetings, which made me feel good about
myself…until I realized that she probably said
A boss can be tough, hold you to high standards, terrible things about me when she met with
and even have a cold personality. But if she others. This is Mean Girl behavior, and you don’t
consistently treats you with disdain or disgust, have to deal with it.
while keeping you around at the company, she
might be emotionally abusive. A boss should 3. Your Boss Micromanages You
never cause you to feel deep personal shame or A manager is there to manage, but what about
guilt. micromanaging? That can actually be a form of
I once had a boss who would shake her finger in over-control and emotional abuse.
the faces of employees and tell them that they If you feel your boss excessively micromanaging
should be ashamed when they erred on small you even though she purportedly trusts you, take
tasks. a step back. Do you deserve to be watched at all
Sure, sometimes we mess up at work. But if a times? Have you been messing up lately, or does
boss becomes angry at you and deals with that she just want you to feel on edge about your
anger by being excessively cold, nonverbal, tasks? Where has the trust broken down?
or even using hostile sarcasm, she is being When you look closely, it may become clear that
ineffective and only encouraging you to question the issue doesn’t lie within your work, but with
yourself. her refusal to express trust. The more on edge

2. Your Boss Gossips a Lot you are, the more control she has.

Gossip happens in most workplaces, 4. Your Boss Makes You Question Yourself
unfortunately. But your supervisor should not be One major moment that led to my realization
the ringleader of the gossip. of my own emotionally abusive relationship
Be wary of bosses who talk to their employees
about colleagues, or openly and regularly criticize Continued u

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