If you have a sibling struggling with addiction, you know the impact it has had on you. The pressure to overperform to be a good distraction for your parents, the exhaustion of being the joker, the mixed feelings from the praise you’ve received for being the “good one,” the frustration of your sibling abandoning you, the hurt feelings that you’re not interesting enough to keep their attention, and the rage of always having to cover for them.

It’s so hard to grieve when they’re still there—intermittently trying to pull you back to their side. You may feel betrayed. You may have gotten less attention because their illness sucks all of the air out of the room, and you’ve often been left to effectively raise yourself. The family may put extra pressure on you to be perfect, not realizing that the only way they feel better is when you compensate for your sibling’s mistakes.

You may not even recognize this dynamic because it’s so ingrained—you’ve lived years with anxiety and depression, thinking you were simply selfish or “too much”.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This is a predictable pattern when you have a sibling struggling with addiction—and you are not too much.

In therapy with me, you can receive validation for everything you’ve been through and create a path out of the maze—one where you feel confident and grounded in your own perspective.

Contact me today.