What should I do?

My family has always labeled me as ungrateful and entitled. As a child, I used to beat myself up over it thinking it was true. Now that I am older, I am realizing that the way they used to and still continue to treat me is not fair. I don’t want to lose contact with them but I hate being hated.
Asked by smash
Answered
07/29/2022

It is important to explore what they are doing, and what their intentions may be. Have you considered setting boundaries in an assertive manner?  

As far as being ungrateful and entitled, were there things you would do for them to label you as that, or was that something they would say without any merit?  What do you think their goals were for giving you those labels?

 

When considering fair, I would ask you to consider how they treat you and how you prefer for them to treat you. Are you setting realistic expectations for how they could treat you?  And if they continue to treat you in a way that you do not like, are you willing to pull back from those relationships? Sometimes people aren't willing to accommodate our wants and desires so we are left to determine if we are going to put up with it or not.  

All in all, family conflict can be very difficult.  Often times, family relationships are ones that we want to avoid losing, but not every relationship is meant to be good. Sometimes we remain connected to people from a distance.  I do not say this for you to be hopeless, but it is important for to understand what the options are here. 

 

The last thing I want you to think about is, what proof do you have that they hate you?  Is that something you are assuming? Or have they out said it? Have their actions been suggestive of that? Also, lets say they do hate you,  what makes you want to stay around people that hate you?  What good can come from exposing yourself to that kind of energy?  

In regards to hating the hate, why do you hate it? I can get why a person would not like being hated but I think it is important to explore what it means for you to be hated.  Does it make you feel bad about who you are? If they did hate you and they stopped, why would that matter so much to you? 

It's hard to tell you what to do, but these questions should get you off to further exploring what your next steps are.  

(LMFT)