Our therapists offer dependent personality disorder therapy in Atlanta, GA

Dependent Personality Disorder Counseling in Atlanta, GA—Sandy Springs Counselors

If you feel dependent upon another person for your well-being, know that help is available. The mental health professionals at Thriveworks Atlanta in Sandy Springs have helped many clients learn how to live a self-reliant, independent life, and we treat Dependent Personality Disorder.

An Unhealthy Dependency

All people rely upon others to some degree or another, but Dependent Personality Disorder is very different than allowing others to help you. The difference is illustrated in two beliefs that Dependent Personality Disorder teaches people: that they are helpless to provide for themselves and that others must then provide for them. These two disordered beliefs fuel a number of disordered behaviors.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) gives the full range of symptoms for someone who has Dependent Personality Disorder (301.6[F70.7]). The primary diagnostics are:

• Submissive behavior.
• A need to be cared for.
• Fear of separation.
• At least five of the following will also be present with Dependent Personality Disorder:
• While making big and small decisions, seeking advice and reassurance and assistance from someone in a caretaking or authority position.
• Feeling uncomfortable at the thought of one’s unique individuality and separateness from other people.
• Experiencing an acute fear of having to support oneself.
• Relinquishing responsibility and oversite of substantial portions of one’s life (e.g., having a parent pay one’s rent).
• Doing extreme things to guarantee someone’s support and nurture—even hiding one’s true thoughts, feelings, opinions, et cetera.
• Feeling an acute fear of abandonment—especially by a caregiver.
• Complying with what other people, especially authority figures, think, believe, and feel.
• Feeling an acute fear of being by oneself.
• When one caretaking relationship ends, quickly hopping to another caretaking relationship.

These symptoms paint a clear picture of the ways that Dependent Personality Disorder can hinder people’s ability to function well in life. In their personal lives, people with the disorder are at increased risk of other mental health problems, including other adjustment, personality, depressive, and anxiety disorders. They often have difficulty with mutual friendships and limited social circles. Professionally, people with the disorder may have difficulty finding or maintaining a job. They often lack initiative and confidence, two assets in a workplace.

Learning to Be Independent

Here are a few tools that therapists can use to formulate a treatment plan:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy: focuses upon the false beliefs that fuel Dependent Personality Disorder, such as “I am incapable.” It seeks to help clients see these distortions for what they are so that they can then embrace positive, true beliefs, for example, “I may need help from time to time, but I can provide for myself.”
• Medication: a form of antidepressant may help people experience a short-term relief from their symptoms so that they can then focus upon long-term healing. For people who also have a depressive or anxiety disorder, medication may be particularly beneficial.
• Psychodynamic therapy: focuses upon the wounds of dependency, in particular how and why it developed. Its focus is deep healing. Psychodynamic therapy is a long-term commitment, but often, people find long-term healing.

Setting Up an Appointment at Thriveworks Atlanta in Sandy Springs

If you are ready to schedule an appointment, the professionals at Thriveworks Atlanta in Sandy Springs are ready to meet with you. When you contact our office, your first appointment may be within 7 days of your first call.

Dial now or book online to get started.