I found an article last night on dependence in therapy. I'll find it again (it is pretty long, but freely available):

http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/steele-2001.php

Don't worry too much about her talking about particular disorders / symptoms. Her take on dependence, independence, and interdependence is still interesting for its own sake.

The basic idea is that both independence and dependence aren't optimal... optimal is inter-dependence. but one coping strategy is to be independent... in which case a move towards dependence is progress, yeah. kinda necessary on the way to developing inter-dependence. alternatively another coping strategy is to be dependent... in which case a move towards independence is progress, yeah. i think that we vacillate around a lot... the idea is to be flexible... to enjoy moments of connection and dependence... to enjoy moments of solitude and independence...

it is a stage, yeah. this too shall pass...