We all need the support of other people. Somewhere along the way many of us became convinced that all of our support should come from only one person- perhaps our partner, or best friend, or a family member. The problem is that all of those other people are human, too, with human limitations and lives that sometimes are hard to manage. When we succeed in developing solid support networks we can allow others to be available for us when it is healthy for them to do so and ask others for support when our primary people cannot be there for us. In this way we get our needs met and can meet the needs of others without burning them out or destroying relationships because of our unmet dependency needs.