Codependency Therapy

Being unhealthily reliant and dependent on another person is seldom seen as an illness. But did you know codependency is a form of addiction which when left untreated, will only gradually get worse over time?

The fine line into codependency is crossed when your well-being is sacrificed to make the other person happy and stay with you. Admitting to being codependent does not come easy for many – they consider it a fixation on their self-esteem. Very few individuals seek professional help for codependence which is a widespread illness among drug addicts and alcoholics.

What Does Codependency Look Like?

Codependency takes various forms, and the key to recognizing it is that the relationship becomes unhealthy, toxic, and painful. The most common thing in codependent relationships is the absence of healthy love or boundaries.

Causes of Codependency

As mentioned earlier, codependents will not find a problem in their behaviors. They will look for it in the person who is the object of their codependency. It often steeps in denial and is challenging to differentiate truth from falsehood.

The roots often stem from early childhood or teenage days up to the age of 18. Certain beliefs and experiences mold the shape of what a regular and stable relationship should look like. If the ideas and experiences were harmful and toxic, then the future relationships will be negative and toxic.

How to Recover?

Codependents will seldom accept help for their illness. The reason being that they cannot visualize their life without the object of their codependence. If they manage to break free, they will quickly substitute it with some other relationship to overcome their internal pain of loss and rejection.

The only viable treatment is to undergo therapy to address the dysfunctional thought patterns leading to codependent behavior. Therapy will introduce the patient to esteem-able behavior and healthy boundaries. It is then in their hands to implement what they have learned in their daily life. Just like other addictions, there isn’t any quick cure or fix for codependency. But it is attainable and sustainable with resilience and hard work.