Adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) often exhibit extreme loyalty, even when faced with evidence that their loyalty is undeserved. This unwavering commitment to others, particularly to their alcoholic parent or dysfunctional family members, is rooted in fear and insecurity. ACOAs may believe that by being exceptionally loyal, they can earn the love and approval they desperately seek, hoping to change their loved ones for the better.
Over-Developed Sense of Responsibility in Adult Children of Alcoholics
If you grew up in a home with an alcoholic parent, you may have become the person who managed the emotional climate, anticipated conflict before it started, and felt responsible for keeping things calm. That was not a character trait. It was a survival strategy. This article explains how over-developed responsibility develops in childhood, what it looks like in adult professional and personal life, and why it tends to exhaust the people around you while also making genuine intimacy harder to sustain.
Anxiety Treatment: Uncontrollable Worry About the Uncertain Future
Anxiety – it’s more than just a fleeting feeling of nervousness. For many, it’s a constant companion that impacts every aspect of life. Whether you’re dealing with occasional anxiety or a full-blown anxiety disorder, it’s important to understand that you don’t have to face it alone. Effective treatment is available, and the first step is … Read more
4 Mistakes That Stop You From Rebuilding Trust (And What to Do Instead)
We all want to regain our trust in others. Sometimes, in our urgency to get rid of our uncomfortable feelings, we fall into a few mistakes that actually make things worse. Knowing about the key mistakes that are made when we work on rebuilding trust will save us unnecessary time and further disappointment.
Measure Your Baseline Happiness
If your goal is to be happy, it’s useful to know how far you’ve come.
As the old saying goes, if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else. With happiness, it’s important to know what your current level of happiness is so that you can measure how effective therapy is over time.