{"id":9855,"date":"2018-01-24T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=9855"},"modified":"2018-01-14T15:09:50","modified_gmt":"2018-01-14T20:09:50","slug":"taking-toxic-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html","title":{"rendered":"Taking on a Toxic Person"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9886\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"conference-2110770_640\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>Jerry, often described as toxic, is a co-worker whom you try to avoid as much as possible. You know, that person who seems to be completely unaware of the chaos and negativity he or she\u00a0brings to relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Toxic people thrive on pushing your buttons and seem to be involved in drama all the time. Most times, we just want to distance ourselves from someone like Jerry. Other times, we need strategies to deal with him. Here are a few tips to take on a toxic person.<\/p>\n<p>The most difficult part in dealing with a toxic person is when conflict comes up. Toxic people see <u>you<\/u> as the conflict, not the issue as the conflict.\u00a0Their unchecked emotions make the conflict so unpleasant that you leave the argument feeling drained and even damaged and think, \u201cI don\u2019t want to do that again.\u201d They don\u2019t live to fight another day, they live to fight! So you have to be able to stand your ground on the issue and not be distracted by all the drama.<\/p>\n<p>Boundaries are important when dealing with people in general, but they become especially important when you&#8217;re dealing with toxic people. Toxic people often take advantage of people with poorly defined boundaries and with people who have problems asserting themselves.<\/p>\n<p>You can establish a boundary, but you\u2019ll have to be intentional. If you let things happen naturally, you are bound to find yourself constantly embroiled in difficult conversations. If you set boundaries and decide when and where you\u2019ll engage a toxic\u00a0person, you can control much of the chaos. The only trick is to stick to your guns and keep boundaries in place when the person tries to encroach upon them, which they will.<\/p>\n<p>Boundaries are important because toxic people are usually\u00a0unwilling to take responsibility for his\/her own actions, thoughts and emotions.\u00a0 This means they are going to project their problems on you or blame you. And if they don\u2019t respect the boundaries, you are probably going to need a build a wall of protection if things get too bad.\u00a0If the difficult\u00a0person is a friend or coworker,\u00a0limit your contact or even walk away when things feel too tense. This is easier to do in a work setting, unless the person is your boss, and harder to do with a family member.<\/p>\n<p>If the toxic person hurts you, forgive, but be smart about moving forward with that person. You don\u2019t need to keep putting yourself in harm\u2019s way with a toxic person if they aren\u2019t making changes. Forgive and watch how they respond in the future. Now, if that toxic person is your spouse, you need to tell them that their behavior is hurting\u00a0the relationship. And that while you forgive him or her, there needs to be change in order to grow in the relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line is that you can control your reactions to the toxic person and not allow them to define you or the relationship. Set those boundaries, minimize contact and if the toxic person is a family member, get help and support in terms of how hold boundaries and push for change.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jerry, often described as toxic, is a co-worker whom you try to avoid as much as possible. You know, that person who seems to be completely unaware of the chaos and negativity he or she\u00a0brings to relationships. Toxic people thrive on pushing your buttons and seem to be involved in drama all the time. Most&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[917],"tags":[502,1103,1121,4139,53,4145,4138],"class_list":["post-9855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friend-relationships","tag-boundaries","tag-difficult-people","tag-difficult-relationships","tag-difficut-person","tag-relationships","tag-toxic-people","tag-toxic-person"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Taking on a Toxic Person<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking on a Toxic Person\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jerry, often described as toxic, is a co-worker whom you try to avoid as much as possible. You know, that person who seems to be completely unaware of the chaos and negativity he or she\u00a0brings to relationships. Toxic people thrive on pushing your buttons and seem to be involved in drama all the time. Most&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-24T11:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-14T20:09:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking on a Toxic Person","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking on a Toxic Person","og_description":"Jerry, often described as toxic, is a co-worker whom you try to avoid as much as possible. You know, that person who seems to be completely unaware of the chaos and negativity he or she\u00a0brings to relationships. Toxic people thrive on pushing your buttons and seem to be involved in drama all the time. Most&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2018-01-24T11:00:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-14T20:09:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html","name":"Taking on a Toxic Person","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-24T11:00:20+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-14T20:09:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/01\/conference-2110770_640-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/01\/taking-toxic-person.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking on a Toxic Person"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9855"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9887,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9855\/revisions\/9887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}