Do you think you may have codependent behavior? This phenomenon isn't as uncommon as many believe. If you find yourself controlling others or bending over backwards to help others at the risk of your own health or sanity, a codependency group may be just what you need to get yourself back on track toward living a happier, more fulfilling life.
Any codependency group will tell you that there are two types of codependents: those who seek to please and those who seek to control. While they may seem like opposite behaviors, they both stem from the same source. Children who come from dysfunctional families often display these behaviors as adults. This is because they work hard their entire lives to anticipate the needs of their parents to avoid punishment, disapproval, or neglect.
As a result, they carry this tendency into adult relationships, which is a common topic discussed in codependency group meetings. Those who seek to please are constantly insecure in themselves, believing that, no matter what they do, it's never good enough.
Controlling codependents are those who believe that they've grown so skilled at serving others that they obviously know what's best for everyone. When in a relationship, they believe their partner doesn't know how to get along without them, and so when their advice is scorned or ignored, they feel defensive, resentful, and angry.
The longer your codependency goes untreated, the more destructive its influence becomes. You may begin to resort to other avoidant methods to forget your feelings of anxiety, depression, resentment, and anger. These include developing dependencies on drugs, alcohol, or food. Other activities include over working, exercising too much, spending money, gambling, and more. Along with helping you to understand and overcome your codependent tendencies, a codependency group is dedicated toward helping you to learn not to rely on these addictions in order to be happy.
One of the biggest advantages to being in a codependency group is that you have an entire group of people to give encouragement, praise, and suggestions throughout your ordeal. Even more constructive is that you are also encouraged to participate as others tell their problems. The more you help others in the codependent group with their problems, the more you will learn about your own. As time passes, eventually you will no longer feel the need to validate your existence with excessive slavish or controlling behavior. In time, you will finally be able to be happy with yourself and learn how to live independently. Learn more about codependency group gatherings in your area today!
Are you suffering from codependency? Do you find yourself striving wildly to please others at the expense of your emotional and physical well being? Do you feel the need to control others for their own good? If these concepts sound familiar, you may be in need of codependency counseling.
In order to understand the importance of codependency counseling, you must first know what codependency is. In most cases, it's something that originates from a childhood spent in a dysfunctional family. In order to avoid disapproval, neglect, or punishment, children seek to try and predict the needs of their parents to the point where they will do absolutely anything to please them.
Codependency counseling will tell you that this mentality is a defense mechanism designed to protect against feelings of rejection or shame. In some cases, this mentality echoes in adult relationships--the codependent partner will try excessively to please his or her partner to the point of lavishing the other person with gifts, doing unwanted favors, lending money, and doing extravagant errands for them, no matter how inconvenient or difficult the task may be. In their hearts, they believe they must validate their existence through the happiness of their partner. In addition to this, many codependents often feel that nothing they ever do is good enough. One of the points of codependency counseling is to help combat the self loathing, anxiety, and loneliness that many who suffer from this condition experience.
There is another type of codependent partner. This type seeks to control others--not out of any need to dominate, but because he or she simply believes that their way is best for everyone. As a result, they tend to become angry, hurt, or resentful when their advice isn't heeded. Codependency counseling also works to help these individuals learn that not everyone is dependent on them.
With this in mind, it's easy to see why codependency counseling is crucial to a sound recovery. By engaging in group therapy, individual counseling, or a 12 step program, codependent individuals can gradually learn that they don't need to validate themselves to anyone. They are free to live their lives as independent, capable people. There is no need for them to constantly influence others.
With time, patience, and perseverance, you can benefit from codependency counseling. If left untreated, many codependents turn to the all too temporary comforts of addictive behaviors such as over working, exercising too much, gambling, video games, the internet, and other absorbing activities. However, with codependency counseling, you can learn to live life happily without using these activities as a crutch. Learn more today!
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