How to Support a Friend Through a Breakup

Check-in with your friend regularly.

If your friend is reluctant to share details, you should respect their decision and let them process their emotions at their own pace. Avoid giving unsolicited advice. Be sure to check in with your friend regularly to show that you’re there for them. Make it easier for them to open up when they’re ready to talk. Your friend might not feel comfortable talking about their breakup at first, but they’ll appreciate your presence and know that you’re there for them.

Let your friend know you’re there for them.

Be there for your friend in any way that you can. If your friend has been living with their ex, help them find a new place to stay. If they’ve been spending every day at work since the breakup, find ways to take some of the burden off their shoulders. If your friend has been trying to make sense of what went wrong in the relationship, don’t pressure them to “get over it” immediately. It’s perfectly normal to need some time to recover and make sense of what happened. If your friend seems to be taking an unusually long time to get over the breakup, it might be a sign that they aren’t ready to let go yet.

Help them make a plan for how to move forward.

If your friend is feeling lost and unmoored, make a plan for helping them start building a new life. If your friend has always wanted to learn a new language, sign them up for a class. If your friend always wanted to get more involved in their community, help them make a plan for achieving that goal. Make sure that your friend’s post-breakup goals are things they want to do, not things they think they should do.

Don’t pressure your friend to rush into another relationship.

If your friend is still really hurting, they might not be in a place to start dating again just yet. However, many people go through breakups with the expectation that they’ll have to wait a certain amount of time before they can start dating again. While it might seem like a good idea to give your friend a deadline, that makes them feel even more pressure and can make the situation even worse. Instead, be patient and don’t push your friend to rush into a new relationship. Let your friend take as much time as they need to heal and get their life back in order.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that going through a breakup is an emotionally challenging experience. If your friend is going through a breakup, there are things that you can do to help them through it. Be careful not to overstep the mark and make things worse. Check-in with your friend regularly, let them know that you’re there for them and help them make a plan for how to move forward. Above all, let your friend know that you are there to assist them. Encourage your friend not to enter into another relationship too quickly.