I have been in a relationship where nothing was ever good enough for him. He always nagged about any of my faults, throwing them in my face daily.
To top that off he would even drag my daughter into it. She would then be in the mind-frame that I was not a good mother to her, because I never liked to take her places and spend money that we didn't have (he had a secret gambling problem, spending any money we had). She started to sound just like him, putting me down all the time.
He never would admit that he had a problem. He would always explain away his behavior with something like, "well if you hadn't done this," or "well if you would do more things with me then maybe I would feel like you care...," etc. Nothing from me was ever enough, it was always my fault he was acting like that, and he wasn't the one with the problems.
After 13 years together we are now divorced. I am now happily remarried to the love of my life. He is always respectful toward me, never afraid to help me out in any way needed, tells me daily how beautiful I am to him and how much he loves me.
With his help we are rebuilding my daughter's attitude towards me. She seems much happier now, more respectful toward me, but she still slips into that "mom is a worthless loser" mode occasionally when she is angry at me for not getting her way. We are slowly trying to train her that she must take responsibility for her own actions, instead of trying to blame everyone else for her problems. It is starting to work.
In the 13 years I was with him, I tried to kid myself into believing that I was truly happy, just because he did always hold a job and never cheated on me. I tricked my mind into believeing that I could just deal with his attitudes/behaviors, because they were ok since he was faithful, and kept a job, and because maybe I really could try being a better person than I was. That maybe it really was my fault he acted like that.
I am just really glad that I woke up and realized it really wasn't all my fault at all. Sometimes, yes, it was, but not all the time. No matter how much I tried to please him, and tried to work things out through talking, it would always end with him blaming me for everything, and him not having any faults at all.
I also believed that over the years he would change. I did try very hard to talk to him about how he made me feel, and to make him realize how he was acting. That what he was doing was in fact emotional abuse. He would change for a week, sometimes for even a month. However, he would soon slip back into old habits.
So, for you own sake and happiness, I would suggest you start planning on leaving. Start putting money back in a secret account, or hide the cash in a secret place where he would never find it. Try to endure it long enough to get a good savings built up so you can find a place of your own. It might also help to tape record any conversations where he is emotionally abusing you. Either tape record them, write them down word for word on paper, or both. This will help your case in the divorce, etc.
Hope this helps.