Even if you're Christian — even if your spouse is a genuinely good person — you can still feel deeply unfulfilled. In this episode, Dr. Greg explores how asking another person to carry your identity, security, and worth turns love into survival — and leaves both people depleted.

Key Topics:

• How misplaced dependence slowly erodes love
• Why identity collapses when relationships become sources of self-worth
• The difference between free self-gift and anxious attachment
• How to properly order your love

Learn More:

• Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
• Summit of Integration 2026 - Sign up to learn more about this year's event!
• Healing Retreat in Wyoming - Learn more about our upcoming retreat experience.
• Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #267: Not All Satisfaction Is Good: Understanding Codependency As Relationship Cancer
  • Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World by Pope Paul VI
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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What if you're mistaking something emotionally dangerous for love? In this episode, Dr. Greg tackles a painful but common pattern: relationships that look close, committed, and appear to be flourishing, yet quietly trap both people in fear, dependence, and anxiety.

Key Topics:

• Why both partners can feel "happy" even as the relationship becomes unhealthy
• How codependency distorts the kind of free, fruitful relationships God calls us to
• Why awareness and willpower aren't enough to break these cycles – and what we can do to heal them

Learn More:

• Pilgrimage to Poland - Learn more about this interior journey with St. John Paul II
• Being Human episodes on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #266: You're Giving Too Much! Uncovering How Anxiety Disguises Itself as Holiness
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Person and Act by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
• Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II)
• Discernment of Spirits - Learn more through the lens of Catholic anthropology and Catholic mindfulness
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

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What if the reason you feel anxious, resentful, or exhausted from "doing the right thing" isn't a lack of generosity—but anxiety hiding behind virtue? This episode explores the crucial difference between authentic Christian self-gift and giving that's really about survival, revealing how true sacrifice should expand freedom, not erase you.

Key Topics:

• The difference between Christian self-gift and anxiety-driven giving
• Why humility is not the same as self-erasure
• How attachment wounds can fuel overgiving
• How dependent and narcissistic patterns reinforce each other
• Why true love always increases freedom

Learn More:

• Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)
• Casti Connubii (Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Christian Marriage)
• Being Human episode on the Dependent Defense Pattern:
  • Ep. #265: Jerry Maguire, Gollum, and the Fear of Not Existing
• Need help? Schedule a free CatholicPsych consultation
• Want to help? Learn more about our Certification in Professional Accompaniment

Follow Us on Socials: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter (X) | LinkedIn