{"id":143496,"date":"2019-07-17T02:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/?p=143496"},"modified":"2020-08-05T14:43:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T21:43:04","slug":"how-to-recover-fight-with-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/how-to-recover-fight-with-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Rebound After a Fight With a Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fights with friends are a guaranteed part of life, but rebounding after a nasty quarrel with your bestie can be particularly difficult. If you value the friendship and want to make it work, psychotherapist and author Tina B. Tessina<\/a>\u00a0suggests that apologizing for whatever part you played in the fight is a key part in healing and moving on.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing how to apologize, even if what you did was unintentional or misinterpreted, is an essential friendship skill,\u201d she says. \u201cIf someone is hurt by what you did, or what they thought you did, an apology is just the thing to reconnect and get the conversation flowing again.”<\/p>\n

If you’re not sure how to best apologize, read on for eight expert tips.<\/p>\n

Take time to process what happened<\/strong>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s always wise to take some time to process what happened after a big fight with a friend,\u201d says psychologist Jennifer Simpson<\/a>. To do this, take a step back and refrain from texting or calling your friend, especially when angry or emotionally vulnerable. Be sure to also let yourself feel the emotions that come up as you won\u2019t want to ignore or suppress them, Simpson advises.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself what happened<\/strong>
\nAfter you calm down and gain emotional distance, Simpson recommends taking things a step further by asking yourself what happened. \u201cIs this a recurring problem? Is it an anomaly? And what were the things that led up to the fight?\u201d she says. “[These] are all important questions to answer yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider your role in the fight<\/strong>
\nSimpson suggests that you\u2019ll also want to ask yourself about the role you played in the fight. Ask yourself if you fought fair, if there are things you want to apologize for, and if there are things about your friend that are still bothering you. She explains that these are important questions to consider.<\/p>\n

Surrender to your responsibility and apologize<\/strong>
\n\u201cWhen you become aware that you have made a mistake, admit it and apologize,\u201d Tessina explains. Use this as an opportunity to learn and grow, she suggests, as apologizing makes it easier to be forgiven.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to admit you\u2019re wrong<\/strong>
\n\u201cDon\u2019t approach every situation as if you’re on trial and don\u2019t compulsively try to convince everyone you’re not guilty,\u201d Tessina explains. “Apology and subsequent forgiveness are stress-releasing, which turns out to be healthy for both participants present in the relationship.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s OK to question your relationship<\/strong>
\n\u201cIf this is a recurring problem, honestly ask yourself if this is a relationship that betters your life,\u201d Simpson advises. Ask yourself if you feel better or worse after time with them, and if you do feel worse, try to consider distancing yourself or setting some boundaries.<\/p>\n

Consider discussing your fight in person<\/strong>
\n\u201cIf this is a friendship you\u2019d like to keep, consider setting up a time to meet in person,\u201d Simpson says. “So much is lost in the world of texting, [and] a genuine and honest conversation can do wonders.”<\/p>\n

Continue to work on your relationship<\/strong>
\n\u201cIf the friendship will continue, identify areas that upset both of you and be sure to check in about this often,\u201d Simpson suggests. Addressing these things as they occur can prevent them from bottling up and exploding down the line, she explains.<\/p>\n

xx, The FabFitFun Team<\/p>\n

From mending friendships to forming them,\u00a0here are five useful tips for making friends in a new city<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":"Fights with friends are a guaranteed part of life, but rebounding after a nasty quarrel ...","author":7532747,"featured_media":143506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[260],"tags":[],"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/17103631\/fight.jpg","thumbnail_url_middle_card":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/17103631\/fight-386x200.jpg","formated_date":"July 17, 2019","category_name":"Life","category_icon":"https:\/\/d3vodd1ws13xud.cloudfront.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/10113832\/entertainment.svg","author_name":"Courtney Leiva","trending":false,"sponsored":false,"random_color":"#16a395","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7532747"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}