Anyone who grew up in an alcoholic home knows what the word "codependency" means! Now is the time to start focusing on caring for yourself instead of for someone else.
Codependency generally results in the individual working so hard to care for the addicted loved one that the codependent individual's needs are neglected, which can also result in poor health, low self-esteem, depression, and other mental and physical consequences.
Codependency can mean enabling behaviors in such a way that one loses themselves and their identity. Our focus here would be to finding the origin of these behaviors and working on bringing the client back to having their own individual identity with appropriate boundaries and healthy self-image.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Marriage and Family Therapist MFT
You might call Codependency an addiction to "taking care of others at my own expense," or "an addiction to being in relationship with an abuser." A definite Behavioral addiction! My modality of choice is Image Transformation Therapy and the Feeling State model. I find this model creates actual behavioral and motivational change, not just curbing my "take care of" behavior and gutting it out. I back this up with EMDR and the Feeling State Addiction Protocol.
Codependency can be a serious problem and a huge distraction. It IS possible to learn to live with another person without controlling or being controlled. We can use CBT, DBT to help you. How free do you want to be?