- Do you try to take care of the feelings, wants, needs and well-being of others?
- Do you feel responsible for the thoughts, actions, choices and destiny of others?
- Do you feel compelled to help other people solve their problems?
- Is it easier for you to express anger about wrongs done to others than to you?
- Are you safest and most comfortable when you are giving to others?
- Do you feel insecure and guilty when someone gives to you?
- Do you feel empty and worthless if you don’t have someone else to take care of?
- Do you feel bored and useless if you don’t have a crisis to deal with?
- Are you unable to stop thinking and worrying about other people’s problems?
- Do you lose interest in your own life when you are in love?
- Do you stay in abusive or dysfunctional relationships in order to feel loved?
- Do you leave bad relationships only to form new ones that don’t work, either?
When someone lives in a family situation that is very dysfunctional over time, it can lead to codependency. This can be caused by caring for one or more family members with a mental or Substance Abuse problem.
They learn to adapt their behavior, to control their own emotions while trying to fix or care for the problems of others. Many times this isn’t possible, so codependents do their best to minimize the chaos and crises that can disrupt the family.
Codependent individuals often become excellent caretakers and problem solvers, at the cost of repeatedly deferring their own needs and feelings, even to the extent of exiling them outright.
This can leave them feeling frustrated, unappreciated, unloved, burdened, overwhelmed, empty, anxious or depressed.
Learn to help yourself.
As we work collaboratively in therapy , you’ll learn to set healthy boundaries, to directly express your own needs, and to feel in your heart that your needs do matter.
I can help you reclaim your feelings, your needs, your dreams and your personal priorities.