This final episode of our codependency series zooms out to reveal how the world around us, including workplaces, healthcare systems, politics, family structures, and culture as a whole, reinforces and normalizes codependent dynamics. If you have ever wondered why setting boundaries feels impossible or why burnout, guilt, and over-functioning feel like the default, this conversation helps you see that it is not just a “you” problem. It is a systemic issue. You will learn how cultural expectations around loyalty, self-sacrifice, and people-pleasing keep harmful patterns in place, and why awareness is the first step toward building a more self-centered and genuinely supportive life.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

• How codependent beliefs show up in personal relationships, workplaces, healthcare systems, government, and culture.
• Why “just set a boundary” is not always realistic or safe when power imbalances and codependent cultures are present.
• The difference between micro (individual), mezzo (family and group), and macro (cultural and political) forms of codependence and how each level reinforces the others.
• The reasons why burnout, people-pleasing, over-functioning, and guilt are often adaptive responses to unhealthy systems rather than personal shortcomings. You are not flawed for struggling.
• Why codependent cultures and abuse go hand in hand.

RESOURCES:

1. Episode 42: The Drama Triangle
2. Episodes 48-50: Codependency Series

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DISCLAIMER: The Self Centered with Katie and Allie Podcast is intended for entertainment, educational, and reflective purposes only. The views, opinions, experiences, and content shared by the hosts and guests are personal and subjective. They are not presented as objective facts or as representative of any professional body, organization, or field, including psychotherapy, coaching, or personal training.

This podcast includes personal reflections on dynamics in various relationships, platonic, family, romantic, and professional. General references to “family,” “an ex,” or “a friend”, for example, are intentionally vague to protect anonymity and do not refer to every individual in those categories. When names are used, they are fictitious, and identifying details are altered. Some information shared is based on research or professional experience, not personal history.

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