I’m a licensed therapist in the Charleston and Mount Pleasant area, who works with individuals of all demographics. I want to share some tips for moving on from a friendship breakup.
My best tips for moving on from a friendship breakup
Treat it as a loss: Allow yourself time to grieve the friendship. Don’t just jump into another friendship. It will take some time to get used to the new norm.
Most things you do with your friend will bring up feelings, and you will need time to process those feelings. Replacing the friend with another one will not make those feelings go away.
Practice some exposure therapy: When you are ready and at your own pace, try to visit some of the places/events you like doing together. This will help you work through those feelings, and you will feel more in control when you do those things with other friends.
Remove or mute them from your social media: Removing them might be one of the last things you consider doing, but I highly suggest at least muting their notifications from popping up on your news feed.
I would also try to avoid social media for a short time if you’re not ready to remove them as a social media friend. Seeing pictures of them with other friends, seemingly happy, may cause you to feel abandoned, sad, and angry.
Filter your photos: Remove any pictures that you may have of them that triggers a negative feeling and place them all in a separate folder. If possible, you can store them in a private folder or vault.
This may help you feel less scared and more in control of what you find on your phone when sorting through it.
Consider removing any items in your home, car, work, etc., that remind you of them: You don’t need to throw them out. Place them in a box and put them somewhere not easily accessible or visible such as a closet or storage space.
Removing these visible triggers may help you feel less overwhelmed by the grieving process.
If you have any tips that you’d like to share, please write them in the comment section.
