Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, continuing our theme of coping with holiday and family stress, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, revisits a recent Therapy Chat episode with frequent guest Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW. Last week Sharon shared strategies to help us feel empowered when interacting with family and during the holidays in general. This week she will teach us why expressing our wants and needs, and naming our boundaries can help us feel in control of our lives as the grown @$$ adults that we are. We can't control everything but do have autonomy and choice as adults. With mindful intention, it is possible to thrive, even during stressful times.

It's common to feel disempowered when we grew up in homes without our emotional needs being met consistently enough. However, as an adult, you have more power than you may be giving yourself credit for. No one can actually take that away from you. By focusing on what is within your control and letting go of what isn't, you can take your power back during the holidays. As we move into the New Year, learning to express your wants and needs and name and hold your boundaries is something that you can learn. Sharon's recommendations shared in this episode can help. Sharon will give some great tips on why it can be hard to set boundaries, why they're important, and how to do it.

Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in codependency recovery with an online practice serving California residents. For the past 20 years, she’s been helping perfectionists and people-pleasers overcome self-doubt and shame, embrace their imperfections, learn to set boundaries, and reclaim their self-worth. Sharon writes the blog Conquering Codependency for Psychology Today and is the author of The CBT Workbook for Perfectionism and The Better Boundaries Workbook.

Resources

Read Sharon's blog, Conquering Codependency, on Psychology Today here.

Buy her books on Amazon here:

The Better Boundaries Workbook: A CBT-Based Program to Help You Set Limits, Express Your Needs, and Create Healthy Relationships

The CBT Workbook for Perfectionism: Evidence-Based Skills to Help You Let Go of Self Criticism, Build Self-Esteem and Find Balance.

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