Anita,

In different posts I made months ago, I had mentioned that I experienced some molestation from my father when I was pretty young. The relationship was always dysfunction: he was also an alcoholic and drug user, he was a womanizer, and I think always made me feel like my looks mattered most more than anything (which I can see come through in my insecurities and self esteem). My mother was always there and always providing, but was stressed out to the limit and I had to support myself and help her from my early teenage years. The financial burden has and is still stressful, because there’s not much of any safety net. I know these issues have manifested in my romantic relationships when things start to go bad, and I do feel overly needy but usually only when I start to feel that the other is pulling away ( and I think this has been in my head more than happening in reality.) Sex has always been confused with love and attraction, with self worth for me. I reconogze that now. I’m just not sure how to move from just recognizing these things to healing and actually changing my thoughts/behaviors.