Ashley Bendiksen: What are the red flags of emotionally abusive relationships?

Do you want to know the red flags of emotionally abusive relationships? Content warning: This episode contains discussions about dating violence and sexual assault. Ashley Bendiksen is a survivor turned activist, speaker, and coach. She never could have dreamed that the dark struggles of her younger self once faced would one day lead me to her purpose. Her story and her work are her life's mission. When Ashley says that she's a proud survivor of abuse, assault, and complex trauma, she mean this. At one point, she truly believed she was destined to be a victim, to struggle. Ashley never knew there could be more for her. That is, until it all came crashing down forcing her to make a change. Today, she is an expert in abuse prevention, a national speaker, and Top Youth Speaker. She's also an author, an activist, nonprofit founder, co-owner of a life coaching agency for youth, and founder of the Blue Hearts Project. Oh... and she's a nerd, a journaler, a discreet punster, tireless adventurer, she likes to sing, she plays the piano, and she hangs at the ocean year-round (yep, in the New England snow). In episode 454 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out more about dating violence and sexual abuse by Ashley's first boyfriend at age 14, what made her choose UMass Lowell for her undergraduate experience, how she got into another abusive relationship at 18 which caused her to drop out of school, how college students should be approaching relationships, what are the red flags of domestic violence and emotionally abusive relationships, how to get out of a toxic relationship, how college students can support their friends/sisters/brothers, ways we can increase safety and prevention such as teaching consent or bystander intervention, and what Ashley's new book called "The Language of Time" is all about.