My latest podcast is with Nancy L. Johnston LPC, author of the recently published book You Here Today 200 Readings for Growth from Codependency to Self-Recovery (Bridge City Books, 2026). This book contains readings for people who tend to lose themselves in others, who are people-pleasers, fixers, or simply someone who is “too nice”. People with codependency tend to be agreeable, rescuers, and compliant.
In the podcast Nancy explains the history of codependency and how it could be seen to be currently in Era 3. This is the modern and contemporary framework used by psychotherapists and is rooted in trauma awareness and the nervous system. It doesn’t view codependency as an “individual disease” but sees it as a highly adaptable, learned survival strategy.
Era 1 in the 1970s and 1980s saw codependency as enabling an addict, or also known as the Al-Anon substance abuse model. Era 2 saw the self-help/pathology terminology which saw codependency as a personal disease, a personality flaw, or an addiction to people. What distinguishes Era 3 is the greater emphasis on trauma informed care, seeing codependency as relational trauma, nervous system regulation and attachment theory. Codependency is now seen in professional circles as a brilliant, learned survival strategy rooted in a hyper-vigilant nervous system.
Noel Bell is a UKCP accredited psychotherapist and can be contacted on 00 (44) 7852407140 or noel@noelbell.net
