What Is Love Addiction? Understanding Compulsive Relationships and Finding Help in Minnesota
Love addiction is a pattern of compulsive attachment to romantic relationships, emotional intensity, or the pursuit of connection—often at the expense of personal well-being, boundaries, relationships, or self-worth. This can manifest in engaging in affairs (especially affairs with a strong, emotional component to them), being a “serial monogamist” (bouncing from one relationship to another without time being single), pursuing people who are already in a relationship, or staying in toxic relationships out of fear of being single. In Minnesota, many people struggling with love addiction describe feeling “hooked” on relationships that are unhealthy, unavailable, or emotionally volatile, yet feel unable to walk away.
Love addiction is not about wanting love too much. It is about losing oneself in the pursuit of connection.
What Is Love Addiction?
Love addiction involves an intense preoccupation with romantic attachment, validation, or emotional closeness. A person may feel whole, calm, or alive only when in a relationship—or in the chase of one—and feel anxious, empty, or panicked when alone.
Common signs of love addiction include:
Fear of being alone or abandoned
Repeatedly choosing emotionally unavailable or unsafe partners
Staying in relationships that involve neglect, betrayal, or instability
Losing one’s identity, values, or boundaries in relationships
Intense highs early in relationships followed by crashes
Difficulty ending relationships, even when they are harmful
In Minnesota, love addiction often shows up in therapy alongside anxiety, depression, trauma histories, or relationship burnout.
Is Love Addiction a Real Issue?
While love addiction is not a formal DSM diagnosis, it is widely recognized by clinicians as a behavioral and attachment-based pattern that can be deeply distressing and disruptive. Many therapists (including CSATs, who often treat love addiction too) understand love addiction through the lenses of:
Attachment theory
Trauma and nervous system regulation
Compulsive behavior patterns
Much like other addictions, love addiction involves craving, obsession, loss of control, and emotional withdrawal when the relationship ends or becomes threatened.
What Causes Love Addiction?
Love addiction often develops early in life and may be rooted in:
Inconsistent or emotionally unavailable caregivers
Childhood abandonment, neglect, or trauma
Attachment wounds
Low self-worth or chronic shame
Learning to equate intensity with love
For many people in Minnesota, love addiction becomes a way to regulate emotions, feel safe, or avoid deeper pain—even when the relationship itself is harmful.
Love Addiction vs. Healthy Attachment
Healthy relationships involve mutuality, boundaries, and emotional safety. Love addiction, by contrast, often involves:
Obsession rather than connection
Anxiety rather than security
Self-abandonment rather than mutual care
Urgency rather than stability
Understanding this difference is a key part of recovery.
How Love Addiction Affects Mental Health and Relationships
Love addiction can lead to:
Chronic anxiety or depression
Emotional exhaustion
Difficulty focusing on work or parenting
Repeated cycles of heartbreak
Loss of self-trust
Many people seek therapy in Minnesota after recognizing patterns they feel stuck repeating, despite their best efforts to change.
How Therapy for Love Addiction Works in Minnesota
Therapy for love addiction focuses on healing the underlying attachment and trauma patterns, not just changing behaviors.
Treatment may include:
Attachment-focused therapy
Trauma-informed care
Boundary and identity development
Nervous system regulation skills
Processing grief and relational loss
Learning to tolerate healthy intimacy
For some clients, therapy also explores how love addiction intersects with sex addiction, betrayal trauma, or codependency.
When to Seek Help for Love Addiction in Minnesota
You may benefit from therapy for love addiction if:
You continue to search for romantic partners despite already being in a relationship
You feel anxious or dysregulated when not in a relationship
You repeatedly choose partners who are unavailable or unsafe
You lose yourself in relationships
You feel “addicted” to emotional intensity or romantic validation
You want healthier, more secure relationships
You are not alone and healing is possible.
Finding a Therapist for Love Addiction in Minnesota
When looking for a therapist in Minnesota to address love addiction, consider:
Training in attachment and trauma
Experience with relationship and compulsive patterns
A non-shaming, structured approach
Clear boundaries and ethical care
Many people find it helpful to work with therapists familiar with addiction-informed and trauma-informed models.
Heather Cronemiller is an expert in treatment of love addiction. If you are in MN, reach out and schedule a consult today
