Setting Boundaries

Sydney had always been a people pleaser, someone who had a self-professed “need to be liked.” This led to her neglecting her own needs to help someone else, even if it required emotional labor she didn’t really have the space to put in.

As her life got busier and busier, she started running out of time and energy to meet all the committments she had enforced on herself. She needed help putting herself and her mental health first.

Speaking to a counselor helped her understand that boundaries represent physical and emotional limits that others cannot cross. They can help define a sense of self by separating needs, desires, thoughts, and feelings from others. By speaking to a counselor, Sydney learned that she had to make a change in her life.

Sydney and her counselor worked together to define the things in her life that made her feel good, and what didn’t and then built a plan to get the bad things out of her life.

As with anything in mental health, Sydney admits that she sometimes slips up and lets someone cross a boundary, but she’s no longer as hard on herself and sees that as an opportunity for growth instead.

Sydney hopes that by sharing her story with others, that people in her same position may be able to improve their lives through therapy and counseling as well. Thank you Sydney!