Dealing with Toxic Family Members - Unhealthy Family Relationships

Just because they are family doesn't mean you have to deal with their disrespect, expectations & projected pain. Here are some tips for dealing with toxic family members.

Show Notes:
The moment I realized that I didn’t have to like my family was one of the best days of my life.

And I know that sounds really bad & negative & whatever you may think, but I mean it when I say that no longer holding on to the obligation that I needed to embrace every single one of my family members or have a relationship with them or even really like them was such a wonderful feeling for me. I truly let go of such a huge burden.

I wasn’t really introduced to the idea of choosing your family until I got into college and away from all the chaos I grew up in. And it wasn’t that I had never met anyone that had a rough upbringing or struggled with their family like I did, but the people I was meeting in that time period were following through with those feelings & creating separation. I wasn’t doing that before college, just enduring the pain of these relationships.

But finally coming to the understanding that just because you were born into this family doesn’t mean they have to be your forever family. I’m not saying you need to throw it all away at your first chance, but if you put in the effort to try to figure it out with them & better the relationship but still nothing changes, feel free to move on.

And if you’re listening to this episode when it releases, peak holiday time, you’ll understand that being with family & navigating those relationships can be really difficult during this time of year. But even when it’s not holiday time, it can still be tough. And since this can be an ongoing battle, I wanted to chat about some of the best ways to deal with family members that are toxic or just not healthy for you to be around and some reminders that will help you not get stuck in thinking you’re obligated to anything.

Here’s some advice on how to deal with unhealthy family members:

1. You get to choose how much time you spend with them.
2. It’s acceptable to have personal boundaries with family members. (Expect respect)
3. You’re not obligated to share personal details about your life just because you’re related.
4. You can be different & do different things than the people in your family.
5. You don’t owe your family anything.
6. You’re not obligated to have a relationship with these people.
7. You can assign anyone you want as family.

Thank you so much for listening to the show!
I appreciate you more than you'll ever know!!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]