Do you believe it’s your job to manage every one else’s emotional experiences?

Are you exhausted, depleted, and easily influenced by the negative reactions of others?

You might feel..

• Anxious when others are mad at you.

• Guilt when others have a reaction to your boundaries.

• Overwhelming fear of abandonment and rejection if you take up space in relationships.

• Impulses to people-please and neglect your own emotional experience.

Start saying “no” to things that don’t satisfy you. Finally get out of the habit of making sure others’ needs are met while yours go forgotten. Codependency is a relational response to emotionally intense childhood environments where you learn to be accommodating to avoid rejection. It can be deeply embedded and its nothing to be ashamed of. There’s ways to help you feel safe in your relationships so you can advocate for your needs in your most important relationships.

You might be thinking:

• My needs aren’t as important as theirs.

• I don’t want to rock the boat and make them angry or upset.

• If I challenge them too much, then they might leave me.

• I don’t actually have as many needs as they do… They are sick, mentally ill, struggling, or worse off than me.

• It’s my job to fix things. I’m the one that has always fixed and I’ll have to keep doing that.

Therapy for codependency can help you:

• Acknowledge and advocate for your needs, advocate for those needs

• Learn different rhythms of relating to our partners and families.

• Practice boundaries in order to create healthy relationship bonds with your most important people.

You deserve to take up space in relationships.