Exactly (on the blindfold part).
Actually, I have a therapist that has helped me with this quite a bit. But the biggest change for me came when I decided to go away for a week to participate in an intense program. My therapist had recommended it, but I didn't think I was ready for it at the time. A year later, I started really uncovering the whole ACOA thing, and it went from there.
I will admit that I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it was a life-altering week that I would highly recommend. It was during that week that I finally found a "family." By that I mean everyone there had different underlying issues, but we were all pretty much in the same place. And ACOA was a big component. During that week, I not only started to really connect with how I got to where I was, but I started realizing that things could be different.
As far as reading and learning about this stuff, that is one thing I've never had a problem with. Never once have I closed a book, unless I just felt it didn't fit. After returning from my week away, where I also learned that I had an awful lot of buried anger toward my parents. I just didn't understand why before then. My alcoholic mother died about eight years ago (there's a strong connection to that and my depression at the time), so there really wasn't much I could do there, except understand what was going on. My father, on the other hand, is still very much around. He is not an alcoholic, but his parenting style was not much different from my mother's. Nothing I did was good enough, etc. So after returning home, I met with him in a few therapy sessions and explained where I'd been and what I'd done. After cleansing myself of all of that anger (at the facility I went to), I have virtually no anger toward my dad any longer.
I did tell him that I would no longer allow him to treat me the way he did, and that it would take time for us to reconnect. But it has been fantastic. For the first time in my life, I feel like the relationship between us is real instead of superficial.
Anyway, my "family of choice" that I found during my week of therapy, has been a phenomenal support group. I do reach out to them regularly, and vice versa. And I have one friend in town that has been a big help too. And reaching out to others is something I never would have done before either. I do realize that by talking to people, including through this forum, I receive more perspective and opportunities to keep ferreting out all of the crap. I know it won't happen overnight, but it took 44 years to get me to where I am, so I figure putting in a few to make significant, meaningful, and lasting changes is something I can handle.