Codependency And Relationships Mental Health Resources
Below are some self-help resources to learn more about yourself. This is a curated list developed over years of practice that continues to evolve. We are excited to share some of these resources with you.
Disclaimer: Please use these resources thoughtfully and with caution and discretion. These resources are general suggestions and not all may be helpful or applicable to you. Self-help resources and support groups are not a substitute for professional assessment and treatment. *We are not personally invested in, nor stand to profit from, any of the recommendations provided.
Self-Check Relationships Quiz
We’ve developed a self-check quiz to help you decide if Codependency & Relationship Counselling might be a good fit for you. (Just remember, it’s not a replacement for a professional diagnosis!)
Helpful e-books, worksheets and guides
Download For Free!
Are you ready to take your relationship to the next level? Download our free guide, "Igniting Intimacy: Conversation Starters for Couples,"
Are you confused by the alphabet soup of therapist credentials? You're not alone. Our free guide, "Therapist Credentials 101," is here to help.
Are you ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth? Our free ebook, "How to Journal: A Comprehensive Guide," is your ticket to unlocking the transformative power of journaling.
Discover the power of self-reflection with our carefully curated collection of journal prompts, designed to help you.
Are you struggling to prioritize yourself? Feeling overwhelmed and unsure how to take care of your own needs? It's time to transform your relationship with self-care. Introducing "A Guide To Self Care" by Paige Abbott, Registered Psychologist.
Discover the power of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) with our free ebook, "Building Emotional Intelligence."
Recommended Reading Materials
General
John Gottman’s resources are very helpful for learning more about healthy relationships. ‘The Science of Trust’ and ‘Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work’ by John Gottman are two specific books worth looking at
Dr. Sue Johnson has resources for building intimacy and close relationships including her seminal book ‘Hold Me Tight’ and the associated workbook
‘Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents’ by Lindsay Gibson and the guided journal
‘Fake Love: Understanding and healing from narcissistic abuse’ by Nova Gibson
‘It’s Not You: Identifying and healing from narcissistic people’ by Ramani Durvasula
The blog/website marriage.com
‘Rebuilding: When Your Relationship Ends’ by Fisher and Alberti
‘Set Boundaries, Find Peace’ by Nedra Glover Tawwab and the corresponding workbook
FREE personality typing to explore who you both are in relationship (this can also be helpful for individual recovery and growth)
‘Sex Talks: The Five Conversations that Will Transform Your Love Life’ by Marin and Marin
‘The Highly Sensitive Person’ by Elaine Aron
Codependency
‘Codependent No More’ by Melody Beattie and the corresponding workbook
‘Facing Codependence’ by Pia Mellody and the associated handbook
‘The Better Boundaries Workbook’ by Sharon Martin and the associated journal
And find other recommendations on our Amazon Store Idea Lists for Relationships and Codependency
Apps
Gottman Card Deck, Men&, Older Women & Friends, Sex and Psychology
From the Blog
Boundaries are one of the most important—and often most misunderstood—parts of emotional and relational well-being. In therapy, conversations about boundaries come up every day, across all types of relationships. Our relationship and couples counselling Calgary AB therapists see these conversations the most, but they come up when exploring mental health connected to depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, OCD, parenting, emotional regulation, chronic pain, and other parts of life. Whether it’s learning to say “no,” expressing a need, or navigating differences with others, boundaries play a central role in helping people feel respected, safe, and authentic.
If boundaries feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable, you’re not alone. Like any skill, they take time, practice, and compassion to develop.
Starting something new—especially something public—often comes with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. For us, creating a podcast had been on our minds for quite some time. We’ve always appreciated how accessible and meaningful podcasts can be, and we wanted to create something that reflects the heart of the work we do every day.
As a team committed to offering the best psychological services Calgary has to offer, we’re always looking for ways to extend support beyond the therapy room. A podcast felt like a natural next step. So how did we get there? Let’s explore the journey to date.
Spring is often associated with renewal, newness and freshness, including making space for what feels lighter and more supportive. This same principle can be applied to our relationships, suggests our couples counselling Calgary therapists. Over time, emotional buildup, unspoken expectations, and blurred boundaries can quietly strain even the most meaningful connections and add ‘clutter’ to our connections.
“Spring cleaning” your relationships doesn’t mean ending them or assigning blame. It means pausing to notice what feels heavy, understanding why, and making intentional adjustments that support your mental and emotional wellbeing. Below, our couples counselling Calgary therapists explore three common areas that often need attention: Resentment, overwhelm, and boundaries. We explore what these areas are, how they can create challenges and how to move them forward in healthy ways.
As the seasons change, many of us feel an instinctive pull to refresh our physical spaces—opening windows, clearing closets, and letting in more light. But spring cleaning doesn’t have to stop at our homes. This season also offers a powerful opportunity to gently declutter emotionally, creating more room for ease, resilience, and nervous system regulation.
Emotional decluttering isn’t about forcing positivity or bypassing difficult feelings. Instead, it’s about noticing what you’re carrying, understanding how it affects your inner world, and intentionally releasing what no longer supports your wellbeing. Our anxiety counselling Calgary therapists delve deeper into this topic of emotional decluttering, nervous system regulation, and what this practice can look like.
Healthy relationships aren’t defined by the absence of conflict—they’re defined by how couples navigate those conflicts, reconnect afterward, and continue building trust. A strong, resilient relationship is grounded in emotional safety, open communication, shared values, and the ability to move through life’s challenges as a team according to our couples counselling Calgary AB therapists.
Effective communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. Whether you're newly dating or have been together for years, how you talk to and understand each other can make or break the connection you share. In this blog post, our couples counselling Calgary AB therapists explore the nature of a secure relationship, highlight common challenges to communication, and offer practical tips that can improve the way you communicate with your partner.
The holiday season is often painted as a magical time—full of love, connection, and joy. While that can be true, it’s also a time when many people feel emotionally stretched, overcommitted, and overwhelmed.
One powerful tool for preserving your peace during the holidays? Boundaries.
Whether you're dealing with complicated family dynamics, packed schedules, or your own emotional needs, setting boundaries is a key part of making the season sustainable—and even enjoyable.
In this blog, our codependency counselling Calgary therapists will break down:
What boundaries are
Why they can be hard to maintain during the holidays
Practical tips to help you set and honor them
We often hear people say, “I’m such a perfectionist”—sometimes with pride, sometimes with exhaustion. On the surface, perfectionism might sound like a drive for excellence, but in reality it’s often a heavy burden and can add a lot of stress and anxiety to people’s lives. Instead of motivating growth, it can trap us in cycles of self-criticism, procrastination, and burnout- issues our anxiety counselling Calgary therapists see often.
Let’s break down what perfectionism really is, where it often comes from, and some practical ways to loosen its grip, based on suggestions from our experienced anxiety counselling Calgary therapists.
Attachment Styles have been all the buzz in the realm of self-help and psychology over the past few years. It’s always interesting when older theories become new and popular again.
In this blog, we will explore more about attachment, specifically focusing on how to build secure attachment. A lot of people exploring attachment tend to get stuck in the problem, rather than looking towards the future of healthy relationships. Attachment, while rooted in our early childhood experiences, can change as we experience different types of relationships.
June is Men’s Mental Health Month. According to the Canadian Men's Health Foundation, approximately one million men suffer from major depression in Canada each year. Adding to that, men tend to not use available mental health services, with statistics indicating that only around 30% of people who use mental health services are men. This creates a big gap between need and treatment.
CBT. One of the gold-standard therapies that is used for a variety of mental health and addiction issues but what is it? When is it best used? How is it used? What will a person’s experience be like doing CBT therapy? These are all great questions and ones that our anxiety counselling Calgary therapists, who all incorporate CBT into their practice on a daily basis, are happy to address.
Boundaries. A bit of a buzzword in the psychological and personal development community, but the hype is for a reason. Boundaries are essential for healthy relationships and mental health. They keep us safe, focused, and prioritizing what matters most to us. Visit one of our past popular blog posts, ‘Boundaries: An Inside Job’ to learn more about what boundaries are.
You know when there is so much hype around a day that, when the day comes, it ends up being miserable and you can’t wait for it to be over? Yeah, welcome to Valentine’s Day!
Not to sound too pessimistic, but it is just a natural human phenomenon that anytime our expectations get amped up too much, there is high potential for disappointment. On this Hallmark holiday, we also have relationship expectations tied in to compound these feelings and potential disappointments.
It may seem like there is no way to have a good Valentine’s Day, but this is not true. In this article, our couples counselling Calgary AB therapists offer you tips and insight based on their therapy work to help you, whether as an individual or a couple, have a great Valentine’s Day.
A company’s website is the main face of who we are and why we do what we do. A blog offers a unique way to introduce this in a more informal way. Today, we look forward to taking you through who we are, what we do, and why we do what we do.
Relationships require work, and sometimes we forget this and coast on autopilot. If you are looking to revitalize, refresh, and improve your relationships with loved ones, whether friends, family members, and/or romantic partners, our couples counselling Calgary therapists have you covered. Based on our experience as professionals, personally, as well as from educational and self-help materials, we’ve compiled our top 10 list of tips to help improve the quality of your relationships. You deserve the best and you deserve to be happy and satisfied with the people you are surrounded by.
Every May since 1951 (that’s over 70 years!), Canadians in communities, schools, workplaces, and the House of Commons have rallied around the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week. This year, between May 6-12, 2024, the theme is around the power of compassion and how that can be used to improve mental health outcomes for all. In this article, we explore how compassion can be used in mental health counselling Airdrie and beyond to offer people the best psychological services and outcomes.
Codependency, while not an official mental health diagnosis, is a term used to explain imbalanced relationships where one person inadvertently enables and participates in another person’s unhealthy behaviours, which are often connected with addiction, mental health, or poor physical health. Those seeking out Codependency Counselling Calgary and beyond can learn more about what codependency is, what codependency counselling and codependency therapy looks like, and 7 core areas to explore for recovery.
A question that is always in people’s minds when engaging with a product or service is, “Am I receiving the best?” This is, in part, due to our natural human instinct for comparison, problem-solving, and forward movement to keep questing and pursuing more and better. It is also, in part, to our consumer culture which keeps us doubting and questioning what is bad, good, and best. Of course this question comes up in the therapy arena as well, though the answer definitely looks different than if you are using the best phone or eating the best donair.
On the surface, people pleasing can look like being kind, helpful, and offering support to other people. You may wonder how this could be unhealthy and unkind to our mental health? In and of themselves, these are great qualities and not where people pleasing can create issues. People pleasing’s harm comes from its intensity, frequency, underlying motivations, and impact.
Couples Counselling Experts At SanaPsyc
Currently Accepting New Clients for couples & relationship work, as well as kids, youth and adults navigating anxiety, depression, caregiving, BFRBs, and more or you are looking for hypnotherapy
Currently Accepting New Clients for Couples and Youth 12+ and Adults navigating chronic pain, medical trauma, anxiety, esteem, and more
Currently Accepting New Clients for addiction, OCD, anxiety, relationship, self-esteem and more for adults and youth 15+
Currently Accepting New Clients for kids, youth and adults navigating crises, addiction, relationship challenges, health issues, and more
Codependency and Relationship Experts
Current Wait List for New Clients. Please add yourself to the waitlist on Jane or by emailing paige@sanapsychological.com
Currently Accepting New Clients for Trauma, Perfectionism, Self-Esteem and more for youth 15+ and adults
Amanda Nelson
Amanda is passionate about growth, big-picture ideas, and putting together strategic marketing plans for businesses that want to scale.
Amanda’s philosophy is to love what you do, to never say no to new opportunities without hearing them first, and to treat others as she would like to be treated.
She is forward-thinking and intuitive when it comes to what a business needs to level up its marketing game. Amanda is a single mother to a spunky boy, she is obsessed with plants (210+ houseplants), and loves relaxing at home after a fulfilling day of work.