Mitch would stomp around the house, playing with his revolver, all the while shouting at Bonnie.

But he never actually touched Bonnie. Nor did he threaten to hurt her - in so many words.

Instead, he would threaten to kill friends of hers. He even tampered with one friend’s car. For that, he was arrested and entered a plea agreement.

He would also threaten to call everyone Bonnie knew and tell them personal things that were none of their business. He warned her that she would lose her job.

Another time, he lured their children away from one of Bonnie’s haunts near home so that he could drive by and intimidate Bonnie.

After that, Bonnie had no difficulty heading down to the courthouse alone and getting a temporary restraining order. With the order in hand, Bonnie knew her first peace in months.

The ease with which Bonnie got the temporary protective order made her confident of her ability to go to court alone for the hearing to have the order made permanent.

Bonnie felt hysterical when the judge cancelled the injunction, ruling that Bonnie had not shown that Mitch was violent.

Mitch was really angry after the hearing and felt even freer to behave badly then.

Bonnie didn’t know what to do. Worse, she was now fearful of returning to the court, where she felt she had been betrayed.

Fortunately, I could advise Bonnie that she had other legal options for protection, options that didn’t require a showing of actual violence by Mitch.

I realized that Bonnie had ample evidence that Mitch had had at her beyond the bounds of what the law required her to put up with.

Armed with that knowledge, I was able to obtain a court order that gave Bonnie and her children similar protection.

Since then, Bonnie has been able to get on with her life, free of stress and worry about herself, her friends or her kids.

NOTE: Every case is different. Just because Bonnie achieved this outcome doesn't mean that your case will.