Navigating difficult relationships

The holiday season is often a very exciting time for families and friends to get together to celebrate the season. However, for some, this can also be a challenging time to navigate difficult relationships or feelings of loneliness, especially for those that may be experiencing negative mental health or isolation.

Throughout this theme, we will offer tips on navigating difficult conversations, setting boundaries, and providing supporting for your own or your loved ones’ mental health.

A short guide for navigating a difficult conversation:

Step 1

• Prepare yourself mentally for the conversation.
• Be prepared to communicate respectfully as well as to sit back and listen with empathy.
• Understand the importance of healthy boundaries and forgiveness.

Step 2

• Find a neutral setting you can have a discussion.
• Communicate with your relation to understand both perspectives. Share, listen and breathe.
• Consider brainstorming solutions (sometimes if we focus too much on the problem, we forget to look for solutions).

Step 3

• Move forward together and start practicing any identified solutions.
• Know that leaving is an option. Make plans for walking away from a harmful relationship if both of you will not do the work or if it is negatively affecting your mental health.

For in-depth information, check out these articles:

• Having difficult conversations with family? Make a plan (Article)
• How to have difficult conversations (Video)
• Empathy: The heart of difficult conversations (TEDx Talk)
• A manager’s guide to difficult conversations in the workplace (Fairwork PDF)