"I was puzzled by how you stopped wearing mascara when you were with him," my mother told me not too long ago. I’d been a mascara junkie since my adolescence, but every time I wore mascara, my partner would throw a paranoid fit that I was wearing it to attract other men. Eventually, I just gave up mascara completely.

J.K. Rowling once said, "Rock bottom was the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." True to those words, I hired therapists and coaches for my personal development, and over time, my panic attacks stop. Then one day I vowed to start taking care of my body again and committed to shedding the excess weight I'd gained from comfort-eating. I stopped wearing my uniform of sweatpants and a T-shirt and instead wore dresses, perfume, and mascara again.

Bit by bit, I took hold of my life, and it beamed back at me. Having reclaimed my beauty, I no longer cared what he said to put me down.

These days, I tell my clients to never underestimate the power of self-love and feeling beautiful—whatever that means to you. Every derogatory word an abusive partner utters to break your spirit will bounce off and boomerang back at them because you are strong in who you are—a beautiful soul, inside and out.