Co-dependency is a partnership where each partner provides what the other partner needs, both physically and emotionally.
It is a balanced agreement based on give & take and compromise.
Partners are unaware of their dependency on each other emotionally until they become aware of their own emotional needs.
All the time we are in a co-dependent relationship, we are unaware of our emotional needs because they are automatically being met sub-consciously by our partner.
When our emotional needs are being met, we have no emotional needs, and therefore, no opportunity to become aware of what they are.
The way out of co-dependency is to seek independence. Yet we cannot become independent within a co-dependent relationship until we learn to consciously meet our own emotional needs.
The journey towards independence therefore, requires time alone in the ‘desert’.