Respecting boundaries is a key aspect of healthy relationships, including friendships.
Good friendships are important at every stage of our lives. What can we do to make sure that we aren't overstepping the mark with our friends?
5 Top Tips for Respecting Friendship Boundaries
- Don't forget that we are all individuals and we need to acknowledge and respect our differences. Our friends need to be able to express what their boundaries are and we need to respect them, even if they are different to ours
- We need to encourage open and honest conversations with our friends about boundaries. We need to tell them about ours and listen to theirs. We need to be open to their concerns and make any effort to understand and support their boundaries and they should do the same for us.
- Consent applies to friendships too. We need to get their permission before doing something that may affect their personal space or comfort. This could be physical like hugging them or borrowing personal items or it could be an emotional boundary. Maybe they don't feel as comfortable as us discussing sensitive subjects.
- Keep things confidential, show them we can be trusted. We need to respect friends' privacy by not sharing personal information about them or secrets they confide in us or private conversations unless they clearly tell it is ok to.
- When doing activities together remember what their boundaries are so we don't make them uncomfortable.
By taking the time to find out what our friends' boundaries are and sharing ours, time spent together will be a lot more enjoyable for all of us and our friendships will stronger and more rewarding