Children who grow up in alcoholic, dysfunctional, or abusive families often feel inadequate, defective or broken; and these feelings don’t magically disappear when they grow up and leave home. Feelings of inadequacy stick with us – plaguing many Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACAs) or Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families with a lack of self-worth. Why do some […]
Category Archives: adult children of alcoholics
Why Do Some Adult Children of Alcoholics Become Workaholics and Perfectionists?
Why do some adult children of alcoholics become workaholics? “Work first. Play later.” That’s the motto Elizabeth grew up with. It was hard for her to relax and enjoy things when there was work to be done, a project left unfinished, or something still on her to-do list. She was more comfortable working than having fun. Play and rest just […]
Therapist Recommended Books for Adult Children of Alcoholics
This post contains affiliate links. After my earlier blog post about growing up in an alcoholic family, I got a lot of requests for additional reading suggestions. We are fortunate that there are many helpful books for Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) on healing codependency, trauma, and relationship challenges. Below are some of my reading suggestions for adults who […]
The Effects of Growing Up in a Dysfunctional Family
If you grew up in a family with a chemically dependent, mentally ill, or abusive parent, you know how hard it is — and you know that everyone in the family is affected. Over time, the family begins to revolve around maintaining the status quo – the dysfunction. Rigid family rules and roles develop in dysfunctional families that […]
Break Free from Codependency
Break Free from Codependency At the heart of codependency is a lack of valuing one’s self. People who are codependent value others more than themselves and this contributes to relationship problems. Their lives revolve around helping, fixing or saving others at their own expense. Relationships become very unbalanced.