Setting boundaries to avoid discomfort is all too easy to do, especially if you’re new to setting boundaries. When you establish a boundary, it’s with the goal of making something tolerable (or enjoyable) long term. Another way we can work on that? Distress tolerance skills!

Boundaries are essential to healthy relationships, especially with family. Here’s how you can communicate your boundaries effectively and compassionately.

Boundaries are about letting others know how you will respond when their behavior isn’t acceptable to you. But when boundaries start sounding like rules for how people can act around you, it starts slipping away from boundary territory and into demanding people do exactly what you want them to do.

It’s common to think of boundaries as a way to control someone or a way to end relationships, but boundaries are actually designed to help us maintain our relationships over the long term.