Love Smacked: How to Stop the Cycle of Relationship Addiction and Codependency to Find Everlasting Love

After Rihanna and Alanis Morissette and Amber Smith and Rachel Uchitel, we've all heard about love addiction--people who feel they can only be happy when they are deep in an all-consuming love. There are a handful of books about it (including Facing Love Addiction by Pia Melody, Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood, Love Addict by Ethlie Ann Vare, and others), and many rehab and recovery centers are now advertising that they help clients with love addictions and codependency. But no one has approached the subject of its equally damaging cousin--relationship addiction. Relationship addicts are so in love with love and romance and being coupled up that they continually move from one relationship to another, always on the rebound, never giving themselves time to heal and learn how to be independent. They get into relationships again and again, just to avoid feeling lonely--or worse, to avoid feeling "abnormal." Love Smacked will address all of these issues, looking at early childhood trauma and how that affects our subsequent choices in partners, and how we approach love and relationships. It will discuss the lessons we learn from our upbringing and social and cultural background--lessons that sometimes teach us what healthy relationships look like, but sometimes teach us something else: that we don't deserve any better; that a typical relationship looks turbulent and difficult; that if we ask for better for ourselves, people won't like us or want to be with us.

"This is an important book. Sherry Gaba clearly identifies a common pattern in relationships and shows the negative results on relationships of self-abandonment. --Margaret Paul, PhD, Co-Creator of Inner Bonding

Great book for anxious preoccupied

This book has a lot of really great insights, explanations, and examples. Definitely will listen to again, and go through some of the exercises and make note of some of the “checklists”.
The only thing I really disliked was the AI voice. There’s really weird pauses/gaps where there shouldn’t be and countless words are mispronounced, which was really distracting.
Other than that, it’s a great & easy read.

This book is GOOD!

If you are really looking for a thought provoking book to uncover those healthy habits in love then this is it! I’m a personal transformation coach and I have recommended it to several clients. The only con is the voice. They are using an AI voice and it would have been nice to have a real person to put warmth behind the words.

excellent book

this book gives a great overview of many relationship problems and insecurities and provides a solid basis of knowledge for you to start to overcome them.

must read!

very impactful. alot I didn't realize about relationship addiction. love how there is questions to answer and reflect on.