Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part XI
Brenda Schaeffer Brenda Schaeffer

Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part XI

FROM ADDICTIVE LOVE TO HEALTHY BELONGING

Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by the imagination -- Voltaire

In my work with clients, a process with seven definable stages in and out of unhealthy or addictive relationships emerged. As I began clarifying those phases with clients, change became less painful—even welcome. They had a roadmap and

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Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part VII</a>I
Is it Love Series Heidi Schaeffer Is it Love Series Heidi Schaeffer

Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part VIII

SIGNS OF HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

The affirmation of one’s own life, happiness, growth, freedom, is rooted in one’s capacity to love—in care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge — Erich Fromm

We do need other people. In our evolution as human beings, there is a developing awareness that we are linked with other people in a very profound way. As a psychotherapist I am reminded how basic is the need to experience giving and receiving love, of healthy belonging.

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Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part IV
Brenda Schaeffer Brenda Schaeffer

Is It Love or Is It Addiction? Part IV

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE LOVE

The past, present, and the future are all really one.

We are only looking at the past that is present now and influencing our future. — Brenda Schaeffer

Behind each addictive love relationship--romantic or otherwise, lurks a childhood story dominated by magical thinking and strongly held beliefs that become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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