How to Set an Example When Creating Boundaries With a Partner's Parent

Do you ever run into a boundary issue with your in-laws?

This month’s positive point with a client occurred when my client learned to set boundaries with her mother-in-law, thereby setting an example for her husband to set boundaries with his mother.

This particular client originally was trying to convince her husband not to cave into his mother’s controlling nature. He instead resented the pressure he felt from his wife.

My client and I worked on how to communicate her own boundaries with her mother-in-law and what eventually happened was that her husband saw that her boundary-setting worked.

Little by little, he began to do the same thing and the pressure began to lessen in their relationship.

The moral of the story is this: it is only when we change how we react to someone that another person has the best chance of changing his or her reaction.