You may have learned what to do or say to make things go smoother. You may have learned what behaviors or attitudes made people stay. You learned what made you easier to accept.
And slowly, those lessons became automatic.
In couples therapy, blame is rarely the whole story. More often, blame is what we reach for when something deeper feels too vulnerable, too uncertain, or too scary to say directly.
You may have learned what to do or say to make things go smoother. You may have learned what behaviors or attitudes made people stay. You learned what made you easier to accept.
And slowly, those lessons became automatic.
People with high-functioning anxiety often look very successful in maintaining their jobs, academics, parenthood, and other roles, yet internally are struggling with self-doubt, self-criticism, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and persistent feelings of stress and being "on edge." High-functioning anxiety can affect people from any background, socioeconomic status, racial and gender identity, etc., and thus can present in each individual differently.
The dependency on love to ultimately feel good about ourselves today is sometimes known as codependency or love addiction, and has become normalized in our society, especially in context to monogamous romantic relationships.
You may have learned what to do or say to make things go smoother. You may have learned what behaviors or attitudes made people stay. You learned what made you easier to accept.
And slowly, those lessons became automatic.
Attachment styles are not your identity, but rather patterns for how your nervous system learned to keep you safe.
The moment we pick something up, our brain starts asking: How can I get better at this? How can I optimize this? Is this a productive use of my Saturday? The result? We never actually relax.
No matter how absurd or seemingly random, our dreams contain rich unconscious material that acts as a symbolic treasure hunt leading towards our inner psyche.
Many of us have complicated relationships with our bodies. For some, their body is a safe haven or a comfortable space where they are free to be and celebrate themselves. For others, the body is a source of disappointment, dissatisfaction, discomfort, and even self-hatred.
Values are principles that motivate and inspire you. They often reflect your passions or what you care about, and can be a driving force in shifting behavior toward more purposeful living.
When a big life change happens seemingly overnight, even something positive, your body is often left behind and needs a chance to catch up. Sometimes, life changes before our identity can.
People often come to therapy because they are struggling with anger. They describe snapping at a partner, feeling constantly irritated, or reacting in ways that feel disproportionate to the situation.
When we think about goals, we often default to familiar categories: working out more, eating differently, and being more productive. These can be meaningful goals, but they tend to fall apart when they’re too vague or disconnected from who we actually are.