Tangled Web of Words
A breakthough guide to Conversational and Coercive Control in relationships
Understanding how conversations shape power, equality and connection
A practical framework for recognising unhealthy relational patterns and coercive control
Inside the Book
Ideally, conversations foster connection and fairness in a relationship. but what happens when they become tools for avoidance, obstruction, or control?
In Tangled Web of Words, Dr Pitman draws on over two decades of experience as a social work practitioner, lecturer and researcher to reveal the intricate combinations of unfair conversational tactics, themes and agendas that lead to Conversational Control.
Dr Pitman explains how varying levels of Conversational Control lie at the heart of most relationship issues because they prevent fairness and relational justice. She describes how Coercive Control results from deliberate, unrelenting Conversational Control.
This book highlights these problems and also offers a powerful framework and practical strategies to navigate Conversational Control and help protect psychological and relationship well-being.
Enlightening and empowering, Tangled Web of Words provides an indispensable compass for both practitioners and individuals. It offers clear insights into the complexities of relationships and the dynamics of Coercive Control.
In a world where troubled, abusive and coercive relationships are increasingly common, understanding these dynamics is not just important, it's vital for safeguarding our relationships and role modelling to younger generations.
When we understand, we can make a change.
Who It’s For
For practitioners and support workers
People navigating difficult relationships
Those questioning relationship dynamics
Readers seeking a practical framework
Anyone wanting to better understand Coercive Control
What Makes This Approach Different
Rather than relying on labels, diagnoses or fixed ideas about personality, this work focuses on what happens between people, how conversations shape meaning, influence and relational balance.
Many people arrive at these questions through the language of narcissism. This work moves beyond labels to examine the interaction itself.
The concepts of conversational equality and relational justice provide a steady reference point for recognising both unhealthy dynamics and grounded, respectful interaction.
This is not simply a book about conversations or coercive control. It offers a framework for understanding relational patterns that are often difficult to recognise from within.
Readers often say:
“Now I understand what is happening.”
Clarity changes things.
When confusing interactions begin to make sense, people often feel less lost, less isolated and more able to trust their own perceptions again.
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