Deprogramming Codependent Brainwashing

Codependency is learned. It’s based on false, dysfunctional beliefs we adopt from our parents and environment. The most damaging belief codependents learn is that we’re not worthy of love and respect — that we’re somehow inadequate, inferior, or just not enough. This is internalized shame. Last year, I published a blog, “Codependency is based on Fake Facts,” explaining the effects of this programming, which squelches our true self. Romantic love that’s mutual can for a brief time liberate our natural, true self. We get a glimpse of what it would be like to live unshackled by shame and fear — why love feels so wonderful. There are countless ways parents communicate shame — often, with just a look or body language. Some of us were shamed with criticism, told we weren’t wanted, or made to feel we were a burden. In other cases, we inferred that belief from neglect, violation of our boundaries, or dismissal of our feelings, wants, and needs. This can happen even when parents say they love us. Being codependent themselves, shame and dysfunctional parenting gets passed down unconsciously. Bad parenting can also be the result of an addiction or mental illness. Identify Your Beliefs It’s key to recovery that we separate damaging beliefs from reality and from our truth. Like digging through manure, this is how we uncover the gold — our buried true self that’s longing to be expressed. Most of us find it difficult to identify our core beliefs. To...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Abuse Borderline Personality Codependence Narcissism PTSD Relationships & Love Brainwashing Emotional Abuse Source Type: news