Many psychotherapy and counseling clients are baffled by the fact that they repeatedly enter unhealthy relationships…or that they find it difficult to cut ties with toxic relationships. Unfortunately, codependent traits are often a big part of ‘why’. These traits are often associated with low self-esteem, high people pleasing and saving and caretaking (to the point of near burnout or resentment) tendencies, poor boundary setting (not even recognizing when your boundaries are violated), ignoring one’s emotional and needs, overly- accommodating the bad behaviours of people with whom we are intimate, and poor communication skills. Codependency is not a simple fix, and usually has deep roots. However, this blog, drawing from co-dependency expert Darlene Lancer, gives some good warning signs and tips to get you started.
