Codependency

Having boundaries, saying now, and advocating for ourselves is difficult. This is especially true for highly sensitive individuals, women, and particularly sensitive women in male-dominated fields. I love supporting my clients in accessing their voice, their strength, and finding connection through differentiation.

Codependency is when you struggle with prioritizing yourself or implementing healthy boundaries with others. You are typically more concerned with helping others feel okay about themselves and the world than you are thinking of yourself, your values, and your goals in life. If you struggle with codependency, you always feel the need to stuff your emotions so that others around you are not uncomfortable. Codependency is many other things, but you know it is too exhausting to be sustainable.

Codependency often involves an excessive focus on others, leading to a loss of one's sense of self. My expertise lies in guiding clients to cultivate healthy autonomy while maintaining meaningful connections. Through therapy, we explore the roots of codependency, increase self-awareness, and develop healthier boundaries. I provide a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to examine their relationships and rediscover their authentic selves.

At its root, codependency is a struggle with valuing the self and in knowing what it means to set boundaries with others. We can often feel confused by feeling selfish if we value ourselves, or mean if we set boundaries. It can be helpful to have someone work through these confusing thoughts and feelings toward a way of being where we know who we are and how to care for others without compromising a core sense of self.

It's hard to fault someone for being compassionate, caring or laughing. Too often, other spray or take advantage our kindness and giving spirit. Inadvertently would give away our power and then find life sometimes hopeless. Learn how to regain your sense of self respect, security and Independence. I utilize CBT therapy for when

Codependency most often comes from growing up in a dysfunctional environment with underlying trauma at the core. The manifested symptoms are vast and can include; the belief that you need someone or something outside of yourself to feel whole, being so absorbed by other's problems (addiction, illness, etc) that you don't take care of yourself, having the need to control people and events because you feel out of control inside or being unable to set boundaries or say no.

Codependency can mean a lot of things: I define it as the ways in which we unconsciously make agreements with others in which both parties get their needs met in indirect (and sometimes harmful) ways. Working through codependency involves getting in touch with our true motivations, realizing where we have charged others with our care, and taking ownership of our own feelings and needs. My approach is influenced by my studies in Nonviolent Communication and the 12-step philosophy.

At its root, codependency is a struggle with valuing the self and in knowing what it means to set boundaries with others. We can often feel confused by feeling selfish if we value ourselves, or mean if we set boundaries. It can be helpful to have someone work through these confusing thoughts and feelings toward a way of being where we know who we are and how to care for others without compromising a core sense of self.

If you are concerned about a loved one’s substance abuse problem, I am here for you as well. Informed by lived experience and proven addiction treatment, I offer individual and family therapy to help you protect yourself, prevent enabling your loved one, and guide you both to the necessary resources for treatment and recovery. My goal is to help you both heal together.

Signs of codependency include: Difficulty making decisions in a relationship Difficulty identifying your feelings Difficulty communicating in a relationship Valuing the approval of others more than valuing yourself Lacking trust in yourself and having poor self-esteem Having fears of abandonment or an obsessive need for approval Having an unhealthy dependence on relationships, even at your own cost Having an exaggerated sense of responsibility for the actions of others

I have vast experience working with clients in toxic relationships, helping individuals with a loved one who is self-destructive, and aiding those who have found themselves in very unhealthy connections. I will work with you on setting healthy boundaries, learn how to "hold on loosely," and learn how to say no, without feeling bad or somehow at fault. I have led support groups on this topic throughout my career.

It's hard to fault someone for being compassionate, caring or kind. Often, others prey or take advantage of our kindness and giving spirit. Unknowingly, we give away our power and feel helpless. Learn how to regain your sense of self-respect, security, and independence. I utilize CBT and EMDR therapy to rewire the brain. When we change our thoughts, it changes how we feel, thus altering our actions. Through the therapy process, we find our true identity.

Modern (western) society has a warped view of love and romance that convinces most of us from an early age that codependency is synonymous with "love" leading to years - sometimes entire lifetimes - of anxiety, confusion, jealousy and emotional angst. I provide a safe, non-judgmental space within which clients vulnerably explore the discomforts that come with the recognition of the effects of codependency within their lives.

Are you drawn into the same kinds of patterns in relationships over and over? Do you give yourself away, with little left over for you? Do you find your relationships exciting at first, and then unfulfilling eventually? Do you find yourself in relationships with people who are abusive, narcissistic, addictive, or manipulative in some way? Do you like to have control, but wish someone else could take over for you? Do you feel hungry for love, but unsure how to get it? If so, please reach out.

It's hard to fault someone for being compassionate, caring or kind. Too often, other prey or take advantage our kindness and giving spirit. Inadvertently, we give away our power and then find life sometimes hopeless. Learn how to regain your sense of self- respect, security and independence. I utilize CBT therapy to rewire our brain changing our thoughts. Changing our thoughts changes how we think and feel best altering our actions.

I have enjoyed being able to work with people on their issues of codependency towards healthy relationships. I will be an advocate for your self-discovery and independent growth, so that you can find yourself with greater insight into your patterns, rather than wait for someone else to tell you what is "wrong with you" and then "fix you." We will discuss independence of identity, worth, self-respect, and boundaries.

I have 5 years of experience assisting clients from various backgrounds and cultures to holistically heal and sustain recovery from codependency, including working in the context of Step programs.

Codependency refers to a relationship dynamic in which one person has an unhealthy need to be needed and thus loses their sense of self by trying to "fix" the other person who may have addiction or mental health issues. Many people struggle with setting personal boundaries and healthy communication. Healing codependent relationship patterns requires learning how to value your own thoughts, needs, and feelings and practice assertive communication.

Codependency can be a challenging thing to navigate on your own, but it is very possible to gain a more comprehensive and complete understanding of why you developed this coping mechanism in the first place. From there, we can support you to re-learn how to have your own autonomy and separate sense of self. If applicable to you, we'll also support you in learning how to discern and hold your own boundaries and connect with others in ways that are empowering for you.