"Personal boundaries are established by changing one's own response to interpersonal situations, rather than expecting other people to change their behaviors to comply with your boundary."
The guidelines, rules, or limits that a person sets for themselves in order to protect their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
Personal Boundaries: Understanding and defining your own personal boundaries in relationships, work, and other areas of life to avoid being taken advantage of, manipulated, or harmed.
Emotional Boundaries: Understanding and separating your own emotions from those of others, developing skills to express your emotions healthily, and respecting the emotions of others.
Physical Boundaries: Maintaining physical boundaries such as personal space to avoid unwanted physical touch or sexual harassment and setting boundaries for what you are and are not comfortable with in a sexual relationship.
Communication Boundaries: Learning how to effectively communicate your boundaries to others, setting clear expectations and being assertive in communication, and respecting the communication boundaries of others.
Social Boundaries: Defining your own social boundaries and recognizing when others violate them, understanding the impact of social pressure, and developing strategies for handling social situations that challenge your boundaries.
Professional Boundaries: Understanding and maintaining appropriate boundaries in a professional setting, setting appropriate personal and professional relationships, and dealing with boundary issues in the workplace.
Family Boundaries: Defining boundaries with family members, navigating familial relationships, and setting appropriate boundaries with parents, siblings, and other relatives.
Relationship Boundaries: Developing healthy relationship boundaries, understanding when to say yes and when to say no in relationships, and respecting the boundaries of your partner and yourself.
Self-care and Boundaries: Recognizing the importance of self-care in maintaining your boundaries, developing strategies for self-care, and understanding how self-care can help you maintain healthy boundaries in all areas of life.
Boundaries and Mental Health: Understanding how boundaries can affect mental health, developing strategies for managing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues through boundary setting, and seeking support when needed.
Physical boundaries: These are boundaries that define a person's physical space and personal possessions. Examples include not allowing others to touch you without your consent, establishing privacy in your personal space, and protecting your possessions from theft or damage.
Emotional boundaries: These boundaries define a person's emotional wellbeing and protect them from emotional harm. Examples include setting limits on the amount of emotional labor you are willing to invest in a relationship, not allowing others to manipulate or control your emotions, and establishing boundaries around sharing personal information.
Intellectual boundaries: These boundaries define a person's intellectual property and their right to express their ideas freely. Examples include protecting patents, trademarks, and copyrights, avoiding plagiarism, and respecting others' ideas and opinions.
Financial boundaries: These boundaries define a person's financial goals and protect them from financial harm. Examples include setting limits on how much money you are willing to lend or borrow, budgeting for your needs, and protecting yourself from financial abuse or fraud.
Time boundaries: These boundaries define a person's time and protect them from feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. Examples include setting limits on the amount of time you are willing to invest in a project or relationship, establishing a work-life balance, and prioritizing your own self-care and personal time.
Sexual boundaries: These boundaries define a person's physical and emotional comfort level regarding sexual interactions. Examples include setting limits on the type and frequency of sexual activities you are willing to engage in, respecting others' sexual boundaries, and establishing and respecting consent.
Spiritual boundaries: These boundaries define a person's spiritual beliefs and practices and protect them from feeling unsupported or invalidated. Examples include setting boundaries around religious or spiritual beliefs that are important to you, respecting others' religious or spiritual beliefs, and avoiding proselytizing or imposing your beliefs on others.
Social boundaries: These boundaries define a person's social interactions and protect them from feeling uncomfortable or excluded. Examples include setting boundaries around social activities you are not comfortable with, respecting others' social boundaries, and avoiding gossip or negative talk about others.
"Personal boundaries or the act of setting boundaries is a life skill that has been popularized by self-help authors and support groups since the mid-1980s."
"One enforces the boundary by politely declining invitations to events that include that person and by politely leaving the room if that person arrives unexpectedly."
"The boundary is thus respected without requiring the assistance or cooperation of any other people."
"Setting a boundary is different from issuing an ultimatum; an ultimatum is a demand that other people change their choices so that their behavior aligns with the boundary-setter's own preferences and personal values."
"The term 'boundary' is a metaphor, with in-bounds meaning acceptable and out-of-bounds meaning unacceptable."
"The concept of boundaries has been widely adopted by the counseling profession."