Investigating both words means delving into the emotional meaning each of them can have in our lives. In this process, we examine two different paths in relationships. In our daily lives, we use them interchangeably, but we want to explore their meaning in our relationships. Doing so is an opportunity for growth. Words have been loaded with meanings based on the culture we live in, the way they are used in our family, society, and environment. And it can help us avoid getting entangled in relationships.

HELP

• It means that the other person needs something and I have it, but from a Dependent perspective.
• That Dependent perspective resonates with a Child-Adult relationship.
• It is also associated with weakness, vulnerability, diminished…
• It generates a feeling that “I can do it and you can’t.”

ACCOMPANY

• We view the other person as an equal, a human being on their evolutionary path.
• Their suffering means that their past is in their present and can be released from it, giving it new meaning.
• He is an Adult like me. I renounce being a guardian or parent, I renounce giving or taking away the burden.
• Let him know that I am there, that he is not alone, that what he is seeing has a why and a purpose, that the solution lies within him, that I have nothing to give him but my existential compassion, because “I am you.”
• It is the act of going alongside the other, at their pace.
• It is recognizing that the other has their path and I have mine.
• It is reminding myself that we are interdependent and need each other; it is breaking free from relationships of emotional dependence.