{"id":8196,"date":"2016-06-29T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8196"},"modified":"2016-06-24T09:21:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-24T13:21:06","slug":"much-closeness-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/06\/much-closeness-much.html","title":{"rendered":"When Is Too Much Closeness Too Much?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6205\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2014\/05\/stressed-mom--300x290.jpg\" alt=\"stressed mom\" width=\"300\" height=\"290\" \/>Mary is very close to her mom. So close, she can&#8217;t make a decision without checking with mom first. In fact, she worries that if something happens to mom, she would not know how to function.<\/p>\n<p>Is Mary&#8217;s tight relationship with her mom too much?<\/p>\n<p>Yes. This closeness doesn&#8217;t push\u00a0Mary to\u00a0develop an individual sense of self apart from her mom. While it\u00a0is important for Mary to have a strong connection to her mom, \u00a0she also needs separation. She is too fused with her mom.<\/p>\n<p>Fusion is not the same as intimacy. It moves beyond a desire for intimacy and is an extreme desire for completeness. In other words, mom needs to complete the insecure parts of Mary. This creates an unhealthy dependence.<\/p>\n<p>When you are fused or too close, you don&#8217;t trust your own thinking and allow others to think for you. The other person becomes\u00a0responsible for your happiness. Too much closeness gives the other person power over your well-being.<\/p>\n<p>Too much closeness can be emotional bondage. It prevents you from defining who you are apart from someone else. Fusion is based on the idea that someone else must complete you. No other person can do that. Only God can. His perfect love helps define who you are as a unique created person. Dependency on Him is the only healthy dependency.<\/p>\n<p>So if you find yourself answering YES to these questions, work on \u00a0developing a better sense of self.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I can&#8217;t make a decision without first checking with another person<\/li>\n<li>I \u00a0don&#8217;t know how I feel or think about specific things<\/li>\n<li>I avoid tension for fear of how it will make another person feel<\/li>\n<li>I am afraid to be on my own<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t speak out for fear of that others will think<\/li>\n<li>I do what others say and regret it later<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mary is very close to her mom. So close, she can&#8217;t make a decision without checking with mom first. In fact, she worries that if something happens to mom, she would not know how to function. Is Mary&#8217;s tight relationship with her mom too much? Yes. This closeness doesn&#8217;t push\u00a0Mary to\u00a0develop an individual sense of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913,914],"tags":[3547,3549,3548,1382],"class_list":["post-8196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","category-family-relationships-2","tag-closeness","tag-dependence","tag-fusion","tag-intimacy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Is Too Much Closeness Too Much?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/06\/much-closeness-much.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Is Too Much Closeness Too Much?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mary is very close to her mom. So close, she can&#8217;t make a decision without checking with mom first. In fact, she worries that if something happens to mom, she would not know how to function. Is Mary&#8217;s tight relationship with her mom too much? Yes. This closeness doesn&#8217;t push\u00a0Mary to\u00a0develop an individual sense of&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/06\/much-closeness-much.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-29T10:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-24T13:21:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/05\/stressed-mom--300x290.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Is Too Much Closeness Too Much?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/06\/much-closeness-much.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Is Too Much Closeness Too Much?","og_description":"Mary is very close to her mom. So close, she can&#8217;t make a decision without checking with mom first. In fact, she worries that if something happens to mom, she would not know how to function. Is Mary&#8217;s tight relationship with her mom too much? Yes. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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