Letting Go of Your Ex (2023)
Dr. Cortney Warren, PhD, ABPP
At some point in our lives, almost all of us will go through an excruciatingly painful breakup that absolutely rocks our world. It may be so all-consuming that you feel addicted to your ex. Desperate to reconnect and understand what happened, you can become fixated on your former lover as if you need them to survive. As if your life has lost all meaning without them by your side. As if you no longer have purpose or value on your own. This experience often leaves us feeling depressed, anxious, and lost without a clear picture of how to move on—even when you desperately want...
Some of the blessings-in-disguise I see in my former relationships, as hard as they are to get over, make so much sense as time goes by. I realize that things would have gone astray sooner or later, whether I wanted them to or not. So I think about some of the lessons learned that still haunt me, even in my present relationship(s), like:
1 – I learned that I attributed my happiness too much to the other person, and I have to learn how to be happy on my own. Another person is meant to ‘top’ me off, but not be the center of my happiness. This is something I am still working on.
2 –...