An excerpt from (gasp!) Dr. Laura:
I responded all relationships should be conditional - not “hair-trigger” conditional, but conditional nonetheless. I don’t want to be Mel Gibson’s friend, for example. I am certainly willing to be supportive and helpful, but I don’t want to take up time in my life with yo-yo drama. I consider the other individual has the responsibility to do the work to make themselves healthy and my support is there lovingly when that is, indeed, the case. Getting one’s life on a healthy track is difficult, and I am certainly there to support my friends during that journey. I am not there, however, when intentional, self-defeating steps are taken to get back into the problems.
This is the philosophy I espouse on the air. Otherwise, giving support unconditionally is making oneself a patsy and/or a contributor to the ongoing drama and filling one’s life with unnecessary turmoil.
Relationships require the honor, integrity and effort of both individuals. That should be the condition.
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