Torturing, destroying a personality, ...

Sounds a little like Stockholm Syndrome. You might be able to set up a situation similar to that.

Maybe if you did some research on the guards at Auschwieitz or other concentration camps during the holocaust you might get some examples.

The victim, after escaping, would have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). She'd have difficulty with authority, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, phobias, trust issues, depression.

Patty Hearst - google her story.

This is rather difficult. I suppose one thing he could do is starve her, so in order to get a mouthful of something she has to obey him. Cutting her down verbally would be a way, humiliating her, another. Hm, I think giving him an outer appearance of being tall, buff, and a deep voice might add to the intimidation.

I don't know if this will help but I saw a movie once where the guy got the girl to do stuff for him and stay with him by telling her that her family hated her and wanted her dead. He was very abusive toward her but just kept telling her that she was crap and no one wanted her but him. Eventually she came to like worship him and would do anything for him no matter how he treated her.
I suppose it is not that far out of the realm of possibility, there are millions of women out there who stay in horrid situations with really crappy guys because their self confidence is so low they don't expect better.

Destroying someone's confidence and self belief is easy: lots of verbal assaults including swearing, blame for everything that goes wrong, nothing done is ever satisfactory, pushed to the edge but you dare not lash out or retaliate because the guy has already demonstrated how much worse the situation can get.

And he should reinforce the notion that she has nowhere else to go because she'do be useless without him. fear, helpnesess, hopelessness, emotionally unstable and pure debilitating hatred blocked by phobia of the unknown is what you might be after. It's all psychological.

If you want more specific details pm me through the forum and ask away.

Snitchcat said:

And he should reinforce the notion that she has nowhere else to go because she'do be useless without him. fear, helpnesess, hopelessness, emotionally unstable and pure debilitating hatred blocked by phobia of the unknown is what you might be after. It's all psychological.

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From a psychological stand point forcing her to commit heinous acts will be a torture of its own kind. Once she has committed some act that violates her moral code then guilt plays its part, and nothing destroys confidence in oneself like the feeling of being guilty. If she feels her acts have made the rest of the world a place she no longer can be apart of because of her actions she will bond with the man she sees as sharing in her guilt.

Sleep deprivation and humiliation are also key tools in breaking a person, the first because coherent thought becomes near impossible after 50 straight hours and the second because it lowers the self esteem of the victim and elevates the standing of the torturer in the victims eyes.

For reference you might want to check out 'Gaslight'; the story of a man who sets out to make his neighbour doubt her sanity(hence 'gaslighting'). Not as brutal but some of the principals are the same.

Just realized something: the story you've described and that you're writing... I know that villain almost intimately. If you need even more fodder after reading that novelette of a pm, let me know and I can provide plenty of examples and from different perspectives.