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AMBER THE INSTIGATOR? Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's marriage counselor says actress 'would hit first'

Dr Laurel Anderson stated in her testimony the actress initiated physical fights more than once, but the couple engaged in mutual abuse

Dr Laurel Anderson, who was Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's marriage counselor, revealed that the actress initiated physical fights more than once, but the couple engaged in mutual abuse. The counselor worked with the duo for 21 sessions starting in October 2015 and gave the testimony during the defamation trial in Virginia, on Thursday, April 14.

Anderson stated, "I know she led on more than one occasion and started it to keep him with her because abandonment and having him leave was her worst nightmare. Miss Heard reported that it was a point of pride to her if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight. Her father had beaten her, she was not going to end. If he was going to leave she would strike him to keep him there. She would rather be in a fight than have him leave."

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When Anderson was asked if there was any violence from Depp, she said, "Yes, you're right. He had been well controlled, I think, for almost, I don't know, 20, 30 years. Both were victims of abuse in their homes, but I thought he had been well controlled for decades. And then with Miss Heard, he was triggered, and they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse."

"I thought he was having difficulty in the sessions and I think it was something about the process between the two of them," she added. On being asked what 'difficulty' she was referring to, Anderson explained, "Having a voice. Miss Heard had a jackhammer style of talking. She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at a similar pace. He was cut off a lot. I'm guessing this is what it was. This is how he didn't have a voice. He couldn't talk with her rapid-fire way of conversation so he was really overwhelmed."

Talking about Heard, Anderson said, "Her history is having been violated by her father, physically. A lot of things trigger her, if she's triggered she would hit him first. She said that though she recalls seeing the released photos of Heard with bruises, she never witnessed the abuse herself. She was sensitive to feeling disrespected. If she felt disrespected - she had come out of her background history feeling her pride needed to dominate and she needed to stand up for herself."

Depp sued Heard for defamation when Heard stated in a Washington Post article that she was a victim of domestic violence. Though the article did not name Depp, the actor's lawsuit states that it relied "on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her." Heard then obtained a restraining order against Depp and submitted photographs to the court showing a bruise on her face while counter-suing him.