ABSTRACT
Co-dependency has finally become recognized in the late 1980s as a legitimate and a key issue in the chemical dependency field. Most of the literature available on the topic is addressed to the consumer--the co-dependent individual. In Co-dependency, leading therapists share some remarkable insights into the characteristics of the alcoholic home, co-dependents’patterns of responding to the alcoholic, and the particular problems that family members experience as a result of the environment, including fear, shame and guilt, anger, denial, and confusion. Clinical case material is used to illustrate the value of helping co-dependents through education, peer support, outpatient treatment and psychotherapy. Creative solutions for working with lesbian and gay men and children of alcoholics are also featured.
