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Setting healthy boundaries also helps us set clear expectations and limits of how others can treat us. "Parents don’t suddenly change and become nontoxic. You may have to distance yourself from them to heal and that can be a hard pill to swallow," Dr. Childs noted.
It may feel uncomfortable to create this emotional and physical space between you and your parents, but the psychologist explained this is precisely what you would do with any other toxic person in your life. "We have to let them know what’s appropriate and what’s not because boundaries will help you heal."
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"Parents are the most difficult boundaries because they gave birth to you, they know what buttons to push," she pointed out that setting limits with family members can seem almost impossible.
If that's the case, trying to talk to a trusted friend can help give you the necessary emotional support and motivation to stick to your new boundaries. "They will become upset but that means it’s working. If they can’t respect those boundaries, we have to love them from a distance. That allows us to be free from their toxicity," Dr. Childs concluded.
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