Monthly Archive: April 2025

Codependency & the Illusion of Safety

By Cheryl Fidelman, The Conscious Codependence™ Coach. Are you holding back your life because you’re sold on the myth that if you lived as the truest version of your Self then you’d have to...

How to Recognize Narcissism and Scapegoating in a Family System

By Laura K. Connell. Narcissists exist within toxic family systems because these tend to revolve around the needs of the most toxic person in the family and this is the narcissist. Honesty is like...

5 Simple Tricks to Boost Your Self-Esteem and Self-Worth

By Michelle Farris, Psychotherapist and Codependency Expert. Self-esteem is the foundation for enjoying life. It’s your ability to take care of yourself emotionally, physically, and mentally—without hesitation. But when you struggle with codependency, you’re...

How Codependency Affects Your Money Decisions

By Stacy Brookman, Leadership & Resilience Coach. Money carries weight in more ways than one. For folks in codependent relationships, it can become a source of anxiety, silence, or shame. Financial decisions get handed...

The Addiction of Hope: How It Keeps Us Stuck in Toxic Relationships

By Susan Ball, Unapologetically You Mentor & Coach. Hope is often seen as a virtue, a beacon of light that guides us through the darkest times. From childhood, we are taught that hope is...

ReThink Abandonment: How to Stop Clinging and Start Seeing What Is

By iKE ALLEN, Founder of AVAIYA and Creator of ReThink & Somatic ReThink™ A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…. I equated my literal survival with who was standing next to...

3 Steps That Nurture Your Needs

By Marshall Burtcher. Codependency is a strategy – not a disease, identity, or character flaw – that results from your nervous system’s attempt to create safety, belonging, and worth. I repeat this because this...

People Pleaser? Here’s How to Set Boundaries Without Feeling Guilty

By Stephanie McPhail, MS. Are you the go-to person for everyone’s needs, always putting others first, and rarely getting your own needs met? If you’re nodding along, you might be struggling with people-pleasing. As...

This Is How to Deal with Anger Toward an Addict

By Candace Plattor. Is it ever ok to get angry with the addict I love? The truth is that many people who love addicts are people-pleasers, which is another term for codependency. My simple definition of codependency is when we put others’ needs ahead of our own, on a fairly consistent basis. Codependent people sometimes feel very guilty when they try to have their own needs met – believing, in some cases, that they are not worthy of having their needs...

7 Ways to Recognize A Toxic Relationship & What You Can Do About It

By Stephanie McPhail. Along with physical wellness and financial security, having healthy relationships is one of the biggest contributors to a balanced and fulfilling life. Sometimes, even when we appear to have achieved these things on the surface, there are indicators that we’re lacking the necessary ingredients to sustain them. When they go unaddressed, these detrimental factors will eventually undermine the contentment we desire. By learning to recognize the signs of imbalance, we can begin to take steps to correct them and...

Codependency Recovery: 7 Steps for Healing Yourself and Your Relationships

By Michelle Farris. One size does NOT fit all when it comes to codependency. Whether you relate to a few traits or all of them – recovering from codependency looks different on every person! In relationship, the codependent person ends up doing most of the giving. You give way past the point of it hurting because you need that person to make you feel whole. When codependency is an issue, you crave other people’s approval. You’re constantly looking outside of...

What Is Codependency?

By Kevin Petersen. Addiction. It’s a disease that affects the entire family. When a person suffers from addiction, it creates a detrimental impact on one’s life, and it can be difficult to watch someone you care about go through this. But let’s face it: it’s common for family members to take it upon themselves to try to heal a loved one struggling with addiction. Without proper treatment, this can turn into a toxic..

The Life-Changing Insight That Helped Me Finally Break Free From Codependency

By Marlena Tillhon. Traditional codependency literature has you believe that codependency usually emerges in romantic relationships. We only become aware of it once we’ve had our hearts broken a few dozen times and leap from unhealthy relationship to unhealthy relationship. In my personal and professional experience, codependency expresses itself through us in all areas of life and not just in our love lives...

Stop Gaslighting Your Inner Child

By Candace van Dell. In my work, I often talk about what we do to our inner child is what was done to us in childhood. We learn to parent our inner child, punish her/him, neglect, reject or abandon (if this is what was done to us). Many of these experiences create codependency...

Codependency and Childhood Neglect: What You Need To Know

By Briana MacWilliam. How does childhood neglect contribute to codependent relationships in adulthood? In this article we will explore a definition for childhood neglect and codependent relationships, and explore how one begets the other. You will also learn how to recognize if you have experienced childhood neglect...

The Natural Attraction of Codependents and Narcissists

By Carista Luminare. I have been a relationship counselor for 44 years, specializing in how the bond with our primary attachment figures impacts our adult intimacy dynamics. Our childhood experiences and development define our capacity to know what Love IS (and is not). Because of my childhood and later life relationships...

Are You Walking on Eggshells in Your Relationship?

By Rhoberta Shaler, Ph.D. When you must tread lightly because of a fragile ego, tiptoe around someone’s short temper, or be careful what you say or how you say it… that’s walking on eggshells. Do you recognize that you are walking on eggshells? It’s a difficult and uncomfortable way to be in relationship with someone! Are you always...

How To Cultivate Self-Trust

By Krista Resnick. Codependency created much pain and agony in my life. One of the ways it manifested most was my extreme lack of self trust. I would overthink decisions to death, fearful that I would choose the ‘wrong one,’ or upset someone if they didn’t agree or were disappointed by my choice. I was terrified of...

What Codependency Really Is & What It’s Doing For You

By Marshall Burtcher. Have you been told any of these things about codependency:

That it is a disease?
That it is an identity?
That it is part of who you are?
That it is permanent?
That you’ll have to cope with it for the rest of your life?...

What Does Codependency Look Like in Family Relationships?

By Yasmin Kerkez. Codependency is certainly not a new condition, and awareness of codependency is growing in the greater community. At the same time, it’s also one of those labels that many of us have heard of but don’t know exactly what it involves. In the media and online, it is most commonly linked to romantic relationships, people who exist in a caregiver role...