McCarthy believes she stayed so long because her own parents didn't model a healthy relationship for her. But getting the courage to leave brought out self-love she didn't know she had. "The path to loving yourself requires you to stop putting the blame on others and observe the choices you make that got you there. It wasn't his job to love me. It was mine," she said. "So I chose to finally get the hell out of that relationship. I chose to be powerful not powerless."