Examining Codependent Relationships – Worksheet 1

The first in Hal Baumchen’s Examining Codependent Relationships series, this worksheet guides individuals through an honest examination of how codependency has shown up in their personal relationships – both as the rescuer and as the one being rescued. It opens with a reflective writing prompt asking readers to describe past experiences of working too hard in a relationship, covering for someone’s addiction, enabling destructive behavior, or having their own addiction enabled by others, with an emphasis on specific examples and personal feelings. A 22-item checklist of codependency signs – including seeking constant approval, difficulty saying no, low self-esteem, self-doubt, guilt-driven motivation, and looking to others for emotional stability – helps readers identify the patterns most relevant to their own experience. The worksheet then turns to the rescuing dynamic at the heart of codependency, walking readers through a series of targeted reflection questions: whether someone once shielded them from the consequences of their behavior, how that person may have justified their help, what consequences were avoided, whether the reader has done the same for others, what the goals of those rescuing efforts were, and what the real costs turned out to be for everyone involved.