This can be difficult, especially if they seem vulnerable or express feelings similar to your own. You might miss them dearly, but not respecting their boundaries will likely hurt any future chance of friendship.Īlternately, if your ex contacts you, especially before you’re ready to talk, don’t feel obligated to respond. Don’t call, text, or ask their friends to talk to them for you. If you want to stay friends but your ex doesn’t want any contact, you need to respect that. It can also help you avoid falling into a harmful pattern of offering emotional support to your ex-partner and prolonging the breakup.
This gives you time to focus on yourself, she says. Licensed marriage and family therapist Katherine Parker suggests waiting between 1 and 3 months before getting back in touch with your ex if that’s something you’re interested in. Taking a break from texting and hanging out can help you both start healing.
Take some time apartĮven if you both know you want to maintain a friendship, a little space for some time won’t hurt. Setting clear boundaries for future contact can help make the breakup easier for you both. But if you live in a small town or know a lot of the same people, you might have a harder time completely separating your lives. It’s sometimes easy to avoid crossing paths with an ex-partner after a breakup.
