When it comes to relationship, we spend a lot of time discussing their joys, but rarely talk about the pain when they break down. Yet most people have a story about a broken relationship. For Jane Black, a six-year friendship ended when her friend was rude to one of her children. "After quite a few drinks at a party in my house, she said something rude to my child. I ended the friendship face to face at the party," she says. "I didn't realize what I was doing at the time, I was simply standing up for my child, but in her eyes any challenge was a betrayal." When Angela Thompson noticed a seven-year friendship disappearing, she let it go. "I didn't know how to deal with the issue. I didn't sit down for a grown-up conversation; I just walked away quietly." The decision caused a reaction among Thompson's other friends. "The other friends in the circle are the worst people when you are trying to break up with a friend," she says. "They don't want you to stop being friends, because it puts them in a difficult position. You get told to just get it over." Though we have plenty of measures for handling conflict at work or family fight, we still don't have good ways of ending friendships. Do we sit down and properly break up, or just walk away? Psychologist Serena Cauchy has the following advice. Don't blame. Talk about your needs and feeling rather than talking like a Dutch uncle. Do talk about your needs. Talk about why the friendship is not working for you--about how your needs aren't being met. Don't gossip. Negative talk hurts everyone involved and in some cases can make matters worse. Don't be so accessible. If there is a common wish to conclude the friendship, then you can remove it. What would be the best title for the passage?
A True Friendship When Friendships disappear How Friendships Last Ways to Fix Friendships