Robin NorwoodWomen Who Love Too Much

Every woman should read this book. There are extreme examples of upbringings/romantic relationships but then you only need to relate to the 'characters' behviour, not their upbringing. This book has changed my life and the lives of my friends who I lent it to. Free yourself people

It changed my whole outlook and perspective on my relationship and my attitude towards it. I saw myself multiple times in her explanations and stories, I felt seen and it opened the door to better understanding myself. the stories she tells to explain what co-dependence is and what it looks like and how it can feel, makes it relatable and easier to understand. It debunks how you see love in movies and books, it opens your eyes to how unhealthy it all is because its not about the heartache and the yearning.Definitely read it, especially if you feel like you're giving and giving and getting nothing back in return. The whole book is an epiphany. I want to thank Robin Norwood for changing how I am for the better :) Thank you Robin! Thank you Universe for leading me to this book!!

I've never said this about a book, as rarely has it been true, but this book DID change my life. In an abusive relationship for 4 years, I was having serious psychotherapy, and my emotional and mental health was at an all time low. My best friend told me about this book as she'd seen it in a magazine, and I bought it. Yes the therapy built the foundations and helped me to see that I needed to start loving myself... but this book somehow made it all click together."Loving yourself" is a cliche but think about it - what do we do for those we love? We want to protect them. We keep them safe. We want the best for them. Its not a woolly concept! But for those who have never really loved themselves, it takes a lot of work to really understand HOW to do it and what it means.In relationships with those were love, that love is displayed by actions, behaviour, and boundaries that demonstrate that love and care. This is obvious if you have never been someone with low self worth.... but if you do suffer from it, real self-love is a hard concept to really understand. And then to practice and apply it consistently!!!! I know as I've been there and done that journey, and this book, with the many illustrations (in case studies) really helped me to have that lightbulb moment.... It just clicked in my head and I got it. I said "I'm NOT doing this anymore, I'm just NOT". And I meant it. It was over.That was 8 years ago and I'm now happily married to the love of my life and my soulmate. (Importantly was that in between the two relationships I decided I was happy being alone, happy just being me for a while. I had given up that search. I decided I was whole in myself and deserved to focus on me for a bit).So, this book was my turning point which allowed me to break that destructive cycle. I've lent it to many others and it's now been lost... I'm now buying another for a girl who is in that place where I was 8 years ago.To the author, Robyn, THANK you.

This book has been recommended by a number of people in my world. Some really good lessons in it if you’re open to it. I think a lot of women will disassociate from it if they haven’t had alcoholics in their lives. The role of the codependent/woman who loves too much is just as much a part of the addictive cycle as the partner who is dependent on a substance or a vice and exhibits more externalised patterns.That aside, I take issue with the fact that this book is clearly from a library. It has me question if people are taking books from the library and then selling them as used on Amazon. I hope there’s a system in place to ensure used products are being sold ethically.

Not sure how old this is but the message is timeless anyway.Really insightful. Glad I read itIdeal for anyone wondering where it went wrong …

Great book, would recommend as it’s very educational

This was an interesting book. I originally bought this book on suggestion from a response to a Quora question/discussion about seeking excessive external validation.My hope, was that similar to a book I had read in my early 20s about abusive parents and damaged children, this would result in an epiphany or realisation of some sort, or offer some perspective to facilitate a significant shift in mindset or similar.As I read the book, I came to the realisation that this book is not as advanced as most people let on. The book focusses heavily on case studies of children of alcoholics or those of us who were significantly neglected during childhood, but most importantly this book pertains to the seeking of similar relationships of adult survivors of said parental relationships in their now romantic relationships, and really does focus on this heavily and specifically rather than discussing or expanding on internalised beliefs and ANY relationship- such as friendships, interactions with acquaintances etc.My hope was that this book would help me in general in my life, and whilst it did offer some interesting facts and tidbits, there was nothing particularly awe inspiring, and because it really wasn't the focus I was looking for or even as advanced as it's kind of advertised, I wasn't helped at all with my problem.Most interestingly, perhaps, is the realisation in itself that this book poses as a conundrum or a catch-22 as it were- to be self aware, or emotionally intellectual enough to realise you need help that you seek help of your own volition in this book, you already surpass the topics or maybe even the need (!) of this book. Perhaps if this book is on a reading list for your studies or a professional recommends it to you it could be helpful, but if you have pushed enough to seek help in this manner yourself, you would already know OR be able to easily access the information in this book through the internet.The premise is fairly simple - we may join romantic relations with similar dynamics in our adult years to the relationships we had when we were younger- whether the caregiver, the neglected child, the abused child, whatever, because they are known to us and we repeat those relationships due to internalised beliefs that we can change our fate this time round, when in reality it is simply easier to replay a relationship dynamic known to us than to deal with something safe or different, which either scares us, or feels boring because our brains are wired to feel that the stimulation of being scared/unloved etc is what it means to be loved.I suppose the outcome to this is in two parts - one, I hope this book reaches the hands of someone who may need it but not realise in the charity store I donated it to and two, I suppose it has encouraged me to realise that I am much further along in my healing journey than I realise. Either way, I suppose it has helped in some manner, but not necessarily the way I had hoped for.If you feel you may be of use of this book certainly give it a try, and if you've read this far all I have left to say is that I hope life brings you healing and joy- I promise you deserve it.