Treatment for Codependency-Introduction

What motivates someone to address difficulties in his/her relationships by seeking professional guidance?  Reaching out to a mental health professional often creates feelings of anxiety and overwhelm, therefore, a person often needs that ‘push’ to take the first step.

Here are some specific scenarios which often ‘push’ individuals to seek professional guidance:

• We may be struggling for years in a relationship, feeling ‘stuck’ and hopeless, when the other person’s actions create a crisis situation and we come to the end of our rope.
• We may be experiencing a significant change or disruption in our life and find we are having difficulty adjusting to the new circumstance.
• Someone close to us may have given us feedback about our behavior or appearance and suggested we seek professional help.
• We may be aware of a positive change happening in someone else’s life and relationships, recognize it as something we would like for ourselves, and decide to reach out to a professional in the same way.

Many of us contemplate starting mental health treatment but something gets in the way of taking action, possibly fear, doubt, hopelessness (no one can help me), guilt,  and/or shame.  Sometimes it happens that all of the elements of our life come together and create a time of readiness for us to get unstuck.

In the next chapter, we will define the term, ‘codependency’ and identify specific signs and symptoms.