Boundary Series: Post 1

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

So you might be asking yourself, what are boundaries? How do I use them? How can they be helpful in my life? Well, this short series on boundaries will be addressing these questions and providing you with some quick tips for how to become a boundary setting master.

Let’s start with what is a boundary? A boundary is a way to communicate your wants and needs. You can do so in various ways. You can directly use words to state your wants and needs to others, or you can use non-verbal communication (i.e. body language) to express your boundaries. For example, someone stands too close to you in line at the grocery store. You may choose to take a step away from that person, indirectly communicating that you want and or need more personal space. This is a way of using non-verbal communication to express your boundary. Or, you may choose to use verbal communication to express your boundary. If we use the same example of standing in line at the grocery store and someone is too close to you, you could state “Can you please take a step back so that you aren’t in my personal space.

In the above example, you may want to try using non-verbal communication to set your boundary first. If that doesn’t work then you can try using verbal communication to set your boundary more clearly. Some people are more aware of other people’s nonverbal communication and what it may imply, while others may not notice, or be able to interpret what your nonverbal communication is attempting to say.

So take some time to think about what boundaries you may want to create and how you might be able to do that. Stay tuned for my next post in this boundary-setting series!

Written by Jessica Kolar, LPC