In this groundbreaking exploration of human dependency, Crutches reveals how our most relied-upon supports often evolve into invisible constraints that narrow our experiences and diminish our potential. Drawing on insights from psychology, neuroscience, and decades of clinical observation, this book illuminates the subtle progression from helpful aid to harmful hindrance across all domains of life:

- How substances and technologies meant to enhance our capabilities can gradually replace them
- Why behavioral patterns that once protected us often become the very barriers to our growth
- How relationships that provide essential security can subtly limit authentic connection and expression
- When professional expertise and established success begin restricting rather than expanding potential

More than just identifying the problem, Crutches offers a comprehensive framework for evaluating which supports truly serve us and which primarily limit us. Through the innovative "graduated freedom" approach, readers learn how to systematically reduce dependencies while building alternative capabilities-creating sustainable change without triggering the resistance that dooms most transformation attempts.

This isn't about rejecting all support in pursuit of some mythical complete independence. Rather, it's about developing the discernment to distinguish between supports that enhance our lives and those that diminish them-between tools we consciously use and patterns that unconsciously use us.

Whether you're addressing specific dependencies or simply seeking greater authenticity and capability, Crutches provides both the conceptual understanding and practical strategies to transform your relationship with life's supports. The result isn't a life without assistance, but one where support is consciously chosen rather than compulsively needed-where you use life's resources as tools that expand your possibilities rather than limitations that define them.