When a woman leaves her relationship with her  abuser, the abuser will go through a process of emotions and behaviors that is quite predictable.  This is the separation cycle.

Indifference: A first, the abuser says such things as "Go ahead and leave, I don't care, I don't need you", "You will never survive without me".

Manipulative Anger: In this  stage the abuser shows his anger. If there are  children involved, he may say that his anger is  because the victim is keeping the children away from him and he should have a right to see them.

Honeymoon : The abuser tries to  hook the victim back into the relationship - and  will often times succeed. He will begin to court  the victim again, using tactics such as "trips down memory lane" , i.e. remember when we first met, when the baby was  born, etc. The abuser will send flowers, love letters and gifts to the victim. The abuser will promise to change, or say that he has learned his  lesson and that if the victim comes back, he will  be different. He will not discuss the abuse. If questioned about the abuse, he will become ambiguous. He will only talk about the past good times and future good times to come.

Defaming the victim: The abuser will tell lies about the victim to everyone who  knows her. His goal is to isolate her socially  and to wipeout any support she may have among friends or family. Many times the woman will not  know about his lies. One of the most common lies  is that the woman was having an affair. This lie is used to comfort the abuser because he can use it to justify his abuse.

Renewed manipulative anger: Once the abuser recognizes the victim is not coming back to him, he will become even angrier then before. THE VICTIM IS IN DANGER. The abuser is  likely to carry out threats he made during the relationship and earlier in the separation cycle.  The victim, now the survivor, must take steps to keep herself and her children safe.