I'm Richard Lee, a BACP Accredited codependency therapist in Fitzrovia, Central London. With specialist Post-Induction Therapy (PIT) training — the model developed by Pia Mellody specifically for codependency and developmental trauma — I help clients understand and break free from the patterns that keep them trapped in one-sided relationships, people-pleasing, and losing themselves in others.
Codependency isn't just "being too nice" — it's a learned pattern of relating, often rooted in childhood, where your self-worth becomes dependent on caring for, fixing, or pleasing others. The good news: it can be unlearned.
In-person sessions in Fitzrovia (W1W) and Bromley (BR1), plus online therapy across the UK.
Codependency can be hard to spot because it often looks like being a good, caring person. But there's a difference between healthy care and the kind that costs you yourself.
You feel responsible for other people's emotions and go out of your way to keep everyone happy
Saying "no" fills you with guilt, so you say "yes" and then feel resentful
You're always the one giving — time, energy, emotional support — but rarely receiving
Your self-worth depends on being needed — without a role to play, you feel lost
You're drawn to people who need "fixing" — partners with addiction, emotional unavailability, or chaos
You don't really know what you want or need — your focus has been on others for so long
If several of these resonate, you're not broken — you learned these patterns, and therapy can help you unlearn them.
Codependency is one of the core areas that Post-Induction Therapy (PIT) was designed to treat. Pia Mellody, who developed the model, recognised that codependent patterns aren't a personality flaw — they're a predictable result of developmental trauma.
When your self-worth was never properly nurtured in childhood, you learn to get it externally — through caretaking, people-pleasing, and merging with others. PIT works directly on rebuilding that internal foundation so you can relate to others from choice rather than compulsion.
Working with codependency in therapy, clients typically move toward:
Codependency often develops alongside a loved one's addiction — or fuels your own compulsive patterns
Codependent patterns are nearly always rooted in early experiences of neglect, enmeshment, or emotional inconsistency
The compulsive pursuit of romantic intensity, often with unavailable partners — a common codependency pattern
The exhausting drive to be what others need — often a core feature of codependent adaptation
If you're tired of losing yourself in others, let's talk. I offer a free 15-minute consultation — confidential, no obligation — to explore whether therapy might help.
Confidential • No obligation • BACP Accredited