vivre à tes crochets

15:30 Jul 10, 2018 

"J'en ai marre d'etre si chieuse et demandante avec toi". Pretty powerful stuff. There's a terrible note of guilt and self-loathing here (I don't think that's putting it too strongly), not just about her emotional immaturity but also her self-centredness.

I doubt it's about money, or at least not mainly.

15:04 Jul 10, 2018 

Given the context, I am almost certain the person is bringing h/self down and being deliberately self-critical. It would be a strange choice of expression in French otherwise. I think you need to retain that, otherwise you lose something of the intention of the French. I think she is deliberately using a critical expression and that the tone is lost if you use "to be dependent on".

14:56 Jul 10, 2018 

With the benefit of this further context, Tony's suggestion may be a better fit here. Either way up, there is no ambiguity; it always describes a situation of dependence. It is unusual however for someone to say it of him/herself, as it is basically something of an admission. I've always heard it used by one person criticising another. The expression carries an idea of one person being maintained by another, sometimes even to the extent of exploiting another, almost as a parasite. I would suggest that if someone uses this term about him/herself, they are bringing themselves down, that he/she is not proud of him/herself.

As this seems an unusual choice of expression about oneself, I think it is deliberate. You might like to ask the client. If the choice is deliberate, if there is an element of self-criticism in there, then that needs to be relayed in the English. ;-)

10:13 Jul 10, 2018 

"Je vis a tes crochets et ai besoin de toi , plus que toi de moi. Je suis co­dependante a beaucoup de chose, dont toi." It's tricky because I can quite easily read it either way and it makes sense.