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Learning that Tiger Woods — the man she had been married to for five years and partnered with for eight — wasn’t who she thought he was hit Elin Nordegren hard. “I felt safe with him,” she told People in June 2014. “The word betrayal isn’t strong enough.” To work through her trauma, Nordegren sought professional help. In a May 2014 interview with People, Nordegren opened up about going into intensive therapy during that time. All those years later, she continued to see her therapist on a weekly basis as she felt the need to keep “working on myself,” she said.
That year, Nordegren earned a degree in psychology from Florida’s Rollins College. “I’m not going to deny that I went through the wringer,” she told the outlet. As if coming to terms with Woods’ serial infidelity months after giving birth wasn’t difficult enough, Nordegren had to do so while trying to protect herself and her kids from the relentless paparazzi. In February 2010, Woods accused photographers of putting his daughter’s safety at stake by following her to school, making that information public knowledge.
“Leave my family alone,” Woods pleaded. But they said they wouldn’t. Nordegren was experiencing her own personal hell as she never wanted to be in the spotlight. That’s the reason Nordegren initially turned down Woods’ advances, in fact. “She had her opinions about celebrities and they were not high,” a friend said on HBO’s “Tiger” documentary. But Nordegren came out stronger on the other side.
