When to confront and when to walk away!

So somebody is getting under your skin. It can be a friend, co-worker, partner, whoever. But they are either saying or doing something that you don’t appreciate!

There is not a person on this planet who can’t relate to being bothered by somebody else.

The question becomes, not that we’ve identified that somebody is bothering us, what do we do? Should we be working on ourselves to not let other people under our skin? Or maybe we should be setting boundaries and letting these people know we’re not okay with how things are going!

It’s a tricky balancing act of knowing when to confront or when to walk away. While every situation is different - here are some things to keep in mind:

If the person bothering you does not have the capacity to change, or even if they do but you know they won’t - then it’s likely not worth pursuing any type of confrontation.

Again, every situation is different but that is at least a factor to consider.

Furthermore, ask yourself if you feel this is something that can be addressed by setting a strong boundary. Even if it’s not a formal conversation, is there a healthier boundary you can be setting to let this person know that there behavior is not okay?

Lastly, ask yourself if there is another way to see the situation. Sometimes we need to zoom out and observe a situation objectively. Maybe it’s on us to challenge that we are letting this person bother us!

If interpersonal stress is something that you deal with, seeing a licensed therapist can help!

Philadelphia therapist Noam Dinovitz is seeing clients at his Bala Cynwyd office and virtually through telehealth. He can be reached at noam@dinovitzcounseling.com or 484 278 1230