A nationally recognized author and codependency expert examines the roots of shame and its connection with codependent relationships. Learn how to heal from their destructive hold by implementing eight steps that will empower the real you, and lead to healthier relationships. Shame: the torment you feel when you’re exposed, humiliated, or rejected; the feeling of not being good enough. It’s a deeply painful and universal emotion, yet is not frequently discussed. For some, shame lurks in the unconscious, undermining self-esteem, destroying confidence, and leading to codependency. These codependent relationships—where we overlook our own needs and desires as we try to care for, protect, or please another—often cover up abuse, addiction, or other harmful behaviors. Shame and codependency feed off one another, making us feel stuck, never able to let go, move on, and become the true self we were meant to be. In Conquering Shame and Codependency, Darlene Lancer sheds new light on shame: how codependents’ feelings and beliefs about shame affect their identity, their behavior, and how shame can corrode relationships, destroying trust and love. She then provides eight steps to heal from shame, learn to love yourself, and develop healthy relationships.

Codependency is much more widespread than originally thought. You don’t even have to be in a relationship. Codependents have trouble accepting themselves, so they hide who they are to be accepted by someone else. Codependency for Dummies is the most comprehensive book on the topic to date. It describes the history, symptoms, causes, and relationship dynamics of codependency and provides self-assessment questionnaires. The majority of the book is devoted to healing and lays out a clear plan for recovery with exercises, practical advice, and helpful daily reminders to help you know, honor, protect, and express yourself. It clarifies deep psychological dynamics that underlie codependency, yet is written in a conversational style that’s easily understandable by everyone. You will learn: How to raise your self-esteem The difference between care-giving and codependent care-taking The difference between healthy and dysfunctional families How to set boundaries How to separate responsibility for yourself and for others How to overcome guilt and resentment

Break away and recover from patterns of codependency It could start as lending an occasional hand, but over time, escalates into putting someone else above everything else—even our own well-being. Balance is needed for healthy relationships with others and ourselves. The Codependency Recovery Plan presents an enlightening look at codependency, where it comes from, and a detailed pathway out. The Codependency Recovery Plan fully explains codependency, its symptoms, and the factors that contribute to its development. It offers guidance on ways to recognize codependent behavior, become a better communicator, set boundaries, mend romantic relationships, and raise your self-esteem. Chapter exercises provide a workspace for self-reflection so that you can see your situation with fresh eyes, and gain a new perspective on your own life. Independence starts with a step-by-step plan: Step 1: Get in Touch with Your “Self”—Learn to look inward and become self-reliant. Step 2: Prioritize Self-Care—Honor and value your own self-worth and be kind to yourself. Step 3: Build Boundaries—Set limits for giving your life and love to others. Step 4: Maintain Open Communication—Speak comfortably and confidently with your support network. Step 5: Nurture Intimacy—Create healthy and constructive connections. Start building a better relationship with yourself and the people around you using The Codependency Recovery Plan.

Pia Mellody creates a framework for identifying codependent thinking, emotions and behaviour and provides an effective approach to recovery. Mellody sets forth five primary adult symptoms of this crippling condition, then traces their origin to emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical and sexual abuses that occur in childhood. Central to Mellody's approach is the concept that the codependent adult's injured inner child needs healing. Recovery from codependence, therefore, involves clearing up the toxic emotions left over from these painful childhood experiences.

This bestselling book, now in a revised edition, radically challenges the prevailing medical definition of co-dependency as a permanent, progressive, and incurable addiction. Rather, the authors identify it as the result of developmental traumas that interfered with the infant-parent bonding relationship during the first year of life. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Barry and Janae Weinhold correlate the developmental causes of co-dependency with relationship problems later in life, such as establishing and maintaining boundaries, clinging and dependent behaviors, people pleasing, and difficulty achieving success in the world. Then they focus on healing co-dependency, providing compelling case histories and practical activities to help readers heal early trauma and transform themselves and their primary relationships.

In this fun, inviting look at a serious topic—codependence—Nancy L. Johnston shares the life lessons she learned from her observations of the relationship behaviors exhibited by her pet collie, Daisy: "The book began by my noticing behaviors in Daisy that resemble the codependent behaviors in me, which I have been working to moderate through my recovery. Daily I am struck by our tendencies to attend to others, to herd, to overreact." Johnston's delightful book examines twelve specific behaviors that, in their extreme form, can be codependent. It also offers new information on codependence and help for it, including the latest research-supported findings, so that readers can understand "What am I doing that is not producing the relationship results I really want?" Nancy L. Johnston, MS, LPC, LSATP, is a licensed psychotherapist and licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner in private practice in Lexington, Virginia. She has thirty-three years of clinical experience addressing a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues. Johnston specializes in treating adolescents and adults, and has always had a special interest in addiction and its effects on both individuals and family systems. Her first book, Disentangle: When You've Lost Your Self in Someone Else, was published by Central Recovery Press in 2011.

The New Codependency is an owner’s manual to learning to be who you are and gives you the tools necessary to reclaim your life by renouncing unhealthy practices. In Codependent No More, Melody Beattie introduced the world to the term codependency. Now a modern classic, this book established Beattie as a pioneer in self-help literature and endeared her to millions of readers who longed for healthier relationships. Twenty-five years later concepts such as self-care and setting boundaries have become entrenched in mainstream culture. Now Beattie has written a followup volume, The New Codependency, which clears up misconceptions about codependency, identifies how codependent behavior has changed, and provides a new generation with a road map to wellness. The question remains: What is and what is not codependency? Beattie here reminds us that much of codependency is normal behavior. It’s about crossing lines. There are times we do too much, care too much, feel too little, or overly engage. Feeling resentment after giving is not the same as heartfelt generosity. Narcissism and self-love, enabling and nurturing, and controlling and setting boundaries are not interchangeable terms. In The New Codependency, Beattie explores these differences, effectively invoking her own inspiring story and those of others, to empower us to step out of the victim role forever. Codependency, she shows, is not an illness but rather a series of behaviors that once broken down and analyzed can be successfully combated. Each section offers an overview of and a series of activities pertaining to a particular behavior—caretaking, controlling, manipulation, denial, repression, etc.—enabling us to personalize our own step-by-step guide to wellness. These sections, in conjunction with a series of tests allowing us to assess the level of our codependent behavior, demonstrate that while it may not seem possible now, we have the power to take care of ourselves, no matter what we are experiencing.