Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself / Melody Beattie

RATINGS

Overall: 4/ 5 stars

Text Level: Medium

Entertainment: Medium

Self-Help: High

Page Count: 303

Is this book right for me and my inmate?

For inmates and family members that have formed toxic codependent relationships where you both are dragging each other down.

Buy on: Amazon

Identifying codependency in relationships can help find solutions to bring mental health.

Codependent NO More is a powerful book for finding your own inner strength to succeed. It allows the readers to reflect on self-worth and realize that what we require to be healthy and have a great life, is obtainable for ourselves. What I found extra important was that if I could believe this about myself then I must believe others have the chance for success inside them as well. I learned that it is each of our own responsibilities in a relationship to work towards a healthy life. We must all do our own parts towards our own goals.

In jail, there are many inmates that have built codependent relationships with their loved ones. These are relationships that are based out of fear to fix each other. The relationships create an environment of enabling and in a way, they lack truth and trust. I see how many of my own relationships were driven by this fear of the unknown which led to each of my partners seeking to gain some control in an unhealthy way.

In Beattie’s book, I learned how codependency is a two-way street, where both sides desperately work to ‘fix’ their partners, all the while neglecting their own needs. It is no surprise why so many times the relationships I have found myself in have led my loved ones to feel emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted.

This book is a great source of help to individuals dealing with codependency whether it is from substance abuse or other traumas. The book provides guides, checklists, and strategies for you and your family to find help. This would honestly be a great book for the whole family to read at once. Freeing yourself from a toxic codependent relationship starts with the individual and this book gives you a great way to find that healthy path.

Book Quotes

“Whether the globe of your life shatters in once moment or develops faut lines and cracks slowly, trauma is about more than endings; it’s the beginning of transformation.”

“You are not responsible for making other people ‘see the light’ and you do not need to ‘set them straight.’ You are responsible for helping yourself see the light and for setting yourself straight.”