When Being Needed Becomes Self-Abandonment | Alyssa Utecht

Growing Up Late · Aug 20, 2026 · 31m

There’s a difference between being generous and abandoning yourself. But when you’ve spent years being the helpful one, the dependable one, the woman everyone needs, that line can get surprisingly hard to see.

In this episode of Growing Up Late, I talk with holistic boundaries coach Alyssa Utecht about the energy leaks we create when our yes doesn’t really mean yes — and why sensitive women can become especially good at managing everyone else while slowly losing touch with themselves.

One idea really stopped me during our conversation: being needed can be intoxicating.

If being helpful makes…