Codependent Doctor

Breakups hurt! In this episode, Dr. Downey unpacks why heartbreak can feel like withdrawal, especially for those with codependent tendencies. When your identity is wrapped up in caring for someone else, losing the relationship often means losing your sense of self. From the brain chemistry behind those late-night texts to the quiet signs it’s time to leave a draining relationship, this episode is a deep dive into the real pain of letting go—and how to begin healing for real. You’ll learn why grief is necessary, why rushed advice doesn’t help, and how to reconnect with yourself after love ends. If you’re wondering how to move forward after a breakup, this one’s for you.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

In this episode of The Codependent Doctor, I introduce the powerful yet simple tool that’s helped me stop people-pleasing on autopilot: the three-second authenticity pause. Through personal stories and practical tips, we explore how this tiny moment of mindfulness can help you reconnect with your body’s wisdom, set boundaries without guilt, and honor your truth—because real self-care starts with choosing yourself.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Have you ever thought, “My parents really tried their best… but I still got hurt”? This episode dives into that exact truth—the emotional complexity of being raised by loving parents who lacked the tools to meet all your needs.Dr. Angela Downey shares her story from both sides:As a child with unmet emotional needsAnd as a mother navigating burnout while trying to give her kids everythingWe explore how:Childhood coping becomes adult codependency“Being the good child” often means losing your voiceThe most liberating truth? Healing doesn’t require your parents’ permission. You don’t have to wait for them to become the parent you needed—you can become that safe place for yourself now.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Have you ever felt the quiet pressure to “just get over it” after someone broke your trust?Maybe they apologized. Maybe they didn’t. But something inside you still feels unsettled.Trust doesn’t rebuild overnight. It takes consistency, accountability, and the slow return of emotional safety—not just a quick “I’m sorry.”In this episode, we explore:Why trust feels like emotional debt, not a switch you can flipHow codependent patterns make rebuilding trust even harderThe difference between true accountability vs. shame spiralsHow emotional safety is rebuilt through small, steady momentsWhy your healing timeline matters—and why it’s okay to take your timeWhether you’re trying to rebuild trust or deciding if a relationship can be repaired, this episode offers practical guidancefor moving forward in ways that feel right for you.✨Connect with me on Instagram or Threads @drangeladowney—and don’t forget to share what you’re grateful for today.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Do Father’s Day celebrations leave you feeling hollow instead of happy? You’re not alone.In this raw, candid conversation, we explore the grief that comes with having a father who was physically present but emotionally absent—a special kind of loss that often goes unspoken.In this episode, you’ll hear about:The lasting impact of emotional neglect on self-worth and relationshipsHow we internalize the absence of emotional warmth as “something is wrong with me”The burden of generational silence and narrow definitions of masculinityA new vision of fatherhood: presence > perfectionPermission to grieve what you never had—and to redefine Father’s Day on your own termsPractical ways to honor yourself: letters, rituals, boundaries, or simply skipping the dayYour healing matters. Whether you’re ready to rewrite your relationship with Father’s Day or simply want to feel seen—this conversation will meet you where you are.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Codependency doesn't just affect romantic relationships—it can appear in our friendships too, creating anxiety, over-functioning, and emotional entanglement that feels just as intense without the relationship label. Emotional intimacy is emotional intimacy, regardless of whether it's with a friend or partner, and our attachment patterns don't discriminate.• Friendships lack the clear definitions and expectations that romantic relationships have—there's no "define the relationship" talk or breakup script• Unspoken friendship rules create confusion, especially for those with codependent tendencies who overfunction to maintain connections• Friendship grief is just as valid as romantic heartbreak, though society rarely acknowledges it in the same way• Jealousy and fear can emerge when friends develop new relationships or life changes, triggering abandonment wounds• Notice which friendships feel genuinely safe versus which ones just feel familiar due to shared historySend me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Discover how mental health intricately weaves with codependency, revealing the impact of people-pleasing as a survival instinct formed in childhood. Learn about self-abandonment and the chronic guilt that fuels burnout. Understand why emotional over-responsibility drains your energy and prevents genuine connections. This conversation empowers listeners with practical steps for healing, emphasizing the importance of self-care without sacrificing personal well-being. It’s time to prioritize yourself without the guilt!

In this bonus episode for Mental Health Awareness Month, Dr. Angela Downey shares five powerful mindset shifts that challenge how we think about healing and self-care:Healing isn’t linear — Growth often looks messy, not perfect.You can struggle and still be strong — Vulnerability is courage, not weakness.Feeling your feelings isn’t weakness — Emotions are messengers, not problems to fix.Rest is productive — You don’t need to earn your downtime.Boundaries protect your peace — Limits aren’t selfish, they’re essential.This episode is for anyone navigating burnout, people-pleasing, codependency, or just feeling overwhelmed by mental health advice that doesn’t reflect real life.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

If you’ve always been “the strong one,” this episode on emotional neglect may explain why relationships still feel hard.Emotional neglect isn’t about what happened, but what didn’t.Your needs were likely invisibleYou learned to be low-maintenance to feel lovedYou felt “too much” for having emotionsThis early conditioning creates:CodependencyPeople-pleasingAttraction to emotionally unavailable partnersAt the root is a quiet belief: “If I had just been better, they would have loved me.”Healing begins when you stop trying to be chosen—and start choosing yourself.Send me a messageYou can buy my books now on Amazon.🦋 Enough As I Am - A healing workbook for anyone navigating people-pleasing, guilt, or self-abandonment. It’s filled with practical tools to help you build boundaries and reclaim your self-worth.🖋️ Enough As I Grow - A 365-day journal with daily prompts to guide you through your healing journey one day at a time. If you're interested in a list of books that I recommend to help you on your journey you can request it by clicking on the link in my show notes.🦋 Enough As I Am Workbook on Amazon. 🖋️ Enough as I Grow 365 day Guided Journal on Amazon 📘 Reading list 📰 Newsletter Email: codependentdoctor@gmail.comSocial Media links: Here🎵 Music: Touching The Air by Graceful Movement

Ever felt overwhelmed but told yourself, "it's not that bad"? This discussion dives into high-functioning distress, where people seem fine while battling hidden exhaustion. Dr. Downey shares a personal wake-up call about the importance of recognizing mental health needs. She emphasizes that those who please others often overlook their own well-being. Listeners learn that prioritizing mental health is crucial, just like regular check-ups for our physical health, and that it's okay to acknowledge both gratitude and struggle at the same time.