They have been together 25 years. He is a controlling personality, and as far as I know he has always been that way. The one piece of good news is that she lives in her own house and he lives in his house but he still invades her personal space and uses his coercive control tricks to manipulate her.

I have been trying to talk to her about this for a couple of years now and she has taken some steps to understand the situation but I am beginning to think that she will never take the final steps to send him on his way, out of her life.

I'm an action person. I don't cope well when I am standing by and watching someone else who is letting her own life slowly but surely go down the toilet. She seems to think it is all inevitable.

Very frustrating to watch from the sidelines - and very difficult to stop myself from jumping in and taking positive action.