**Catholicism & Codependency **

The speaker reflects on growing up in a Catholic family and how it instilled a sense of conditional and transactional love, leading to polarized thinking. The experience in Boston, with a prevalence of Catholics, is described as a culture of suppressing truth and feelings, often relying on alcohol to express emotions. The speaker's journey to California and exposure to plant medicine, particularly San Pedro, unraveled their understanding of love and dependency, leading to a realization of their own codependency. This experience inspired the speaker to become a codependency counselor, viewing it as a spiritual, behavioral, and emotional conditioning rather than a purely psychological issue.