Q+A: Ending a friendship with a family member

Written by:Chereen

Q: How do you let go of a friendship with a family member and still keep the peace?

A: Ending a friendship with a family member is no easy task, especially since you’re still related and have the possibility of running into each other or to be united for family events (even if you don’t prefer to). It might be better to not burn any bridges, or to possibly not officially end the friendship, but to let things naturally drift. Keep yourself preoccupied, if they want to hang out, kindly let them know you’re busy on these days and can’t meet with them. Set boundaries they have to respect by walking with purpose and letting it be known that you’re not wasting your time.

Sometimes this doesn’t work, and I know that more than one person reading this is thinking that. If that’s the case, then it might come down to you letting them know the friendship is taking a negative toll on you and you need to do some healing before considering starting a new page with them. No need to give them a time frame. Kindly ask them to respect your space and allow you to grow in a positive light. As usual, I don’t suggest doing this over text and I don’t recommend pointing the blame on them. There’s no need to pull out past negative experiences either. Keep it simple. If you’d like to send me more information about the situation then I’ll be more than happy to advise you. ❤️