Nancy L. Johnston - My Life As a Border Collie: Freedom from Codependency

special praise for

my life as a border collie

Nancy Johnstons advice for codependents and those who love them finds a new voice in My Life as a Border Collie. Johnston draws on life with her own border collie, Daisy, to give the reader a whole new way of thinking about codependency, as she taps Daisys behaviors to illustrate both the good and the less-optimal sides of loyalty, devotion, service, and other attributes. The range of those behaviors, from successful to exasperating to self-defeatingand back, thank goodnesshas never been clearer than in this wise and witty book. Sit! Stay! READ!

Lisa Tracy

Journalist and Author of Objects of Our Affection:Uncovering My Familys Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time

Using her border collie, Daisy, and the characteristics of border collies as a background, Johnston has found an unprecedented and extremely clever way to teach readers about codependence. Her training as a licensed professional counselor and licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner clearly helps Johnston elucidate this important topic, but what shines through is her personal experience with codependence, her love and tremendous respect for her dog, Daisy, and her intense admiration for this remarkable breed called the border collie.

Mary R. Burch, PhD

Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and Author of The Border Collie: An Owners Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet

My Life as a Border Collie is an informative and entertaining book that examines the syndrome of codependency as expressed in the life and tales of the authors border collie. To the attentive observer, mans best friend teaches living lessons about the paradoxes of human nature. I will return to this book over and over again as I seek freedom from my learned, self-defeating thinking and behaviors. This book is a highly valuable addition to the personal library of anyone working on recovery from codependency.

David L. Nelson, MD

Nancy Johnston has brought a balanced approach to the subject of out-of-balance relationships. She begins with a clinical and academic look, which she then brings to life by using both her own experiences and those of her beloved border collie, Daisy.

I love the way the book is formatted, with a near perfect balance of vulnerability and self-disclosure, stories of Nancys own life, and her equally charming dog, Daisy in Tales Told; practical skills in Lessons Learned; and academic information in The Codependency Story.

I appreciate her diligent review of what is new in the field and the way she ties it together in such an informative, yet utterly charming manner! Nancy has moved to the forefront in the field of codependence.

Margaret Cress, LMFT

Cofacilitator of Codependence Camp

I have read multiple self-help books about codependency through the years. Nancys book, however, provided the best visualization for recognizing codependent behavior via her continuum. For the first time I can keep an awareness of whether my behavior reflects youve gone too far or if I was responding in the this is okay end. The continuum has quickly become a supportive self-awareness mind exercise for me.

Nancy Johnston presents a refreshing method of recognizing our true feelings in response to various situations in a positive manner.

Lauren K. Keating, DVM

In My Life as a Border Collie, Nancy Johnston has created an endearing, entertaining, and highly practical prescription for those of us who want to recover our selves. The comparison of her thoughts and behaviors to that of her sweet canine companion, Daisy, is truly unique and fascinating. I started the book with interest and couldnt put it down. I love this book!

Hope Hennessey

Editor and Life Coach

A clinically relevant and useful book. Nancy Johnston provides a continuum of behaviors from which readers can self-identify as healthy or less healthy. She illustrates the consequences of these behaviors through stories about her own life and through case studies from her practice. She then provides specific actions for self-directed change for any reader motivated to embrace health.

I learned quite a bit about border collies too!

Molly ODell, MD

My Life as a Border Collie is a remarkable, energetic, and joyful book containing many great lessons for all of us whether we are dog owners or not. Its lessons range far beyond her life as a border collie, to include how to be in a family, how to approach the world sanely in an insane age, and how to really love. I recommend it highly!

Katie Letcher Lyle

Author

Nancys insights make a wealth of research easily accessible to those of us trying to navigate life with more self-awarenessbuilding on the good aspects of our border collieness while maintaining a thoughtful balance that makes life the richer.

Phyllis R. Parker

Writer and Teacher

My Life as a Border Collie made the dog lover, the therapist, and the recovering codependent in me smile with appreciation. Nancy cleverly weaves in an overview of the best literature on codependency and recovery as she sheds the light of everyday life on it with stories of herself and her dog Daisy and their similarities. Using a border collie as her mirror to her own strengths and struggles, she explores many stumbling blocks to recovery in a lighthearted manner. Bravo, Nancy, for providing a template for recovering readers to look at themselves honestly without taking themselves too seriously. I know I have dog-eared several sections to revisit.

Lois B. Horne, EdS, LPC, LSATP

my life

as a

border collie

my life

as a

border collie

FREEDOM FROM CODEPENDENCY

NANCY L. JOHNSTON, MS, LPC, LSATP

CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS

CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS

Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, we seek to contribute a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals and their families, and the general public.

For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.

Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV 89129

2012 by Nancy L. Johnston
All rights reserved. Published 2012.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Publisher: Central Recovery Press

3321 N. Buffalo Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89129

17 16 15 14 13 121 2 3 4 5

ISBN-13: 978-1-937612-00-9 (e-book)

Author photo by Monty Johnston. Used with permission.

Publishers Note: Central Recovery Press books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people and institutions in this book have been changed.

Cover design and interior layout by Heather Kern, Popshop Studio Design

beginnings
How This All Came to Be

M y Life as a Border Collie: Freedom from Codependency is not a direct sequel to Disentangle: When Youve Lost Your Self in Someone Else, but it does build on the foundational concepts and tools offered in Disentangle as a means of finding and strengthening our self.

The overall concept for My Life as a Border Collie came to me ten years ago as a result of both my recovery from codependency and my relationship with Daisy, our border collie. Over these ten years, I have published, presented, and taught the material in