Therapy Thursday: maintaining healthy relationships

This week on Therapy Thursday, Emily Wassilak with Sunbeam Family Services discussed the correlation between mental health and the relationships in your life.

Wassilak says the relationships we have in our lives are important because they help us feel like we belong.

"All of those relationships are really important because our sense of connection, our sense of belonging, directly relates to reducing stress, it helps us build our self-esteem, and it gives us so many more opportunities to think through and challenge things that might be hard or have new ideas," said Wassilak.

Knowing yourself is the first step in maintaining healthy boundaries, according to Wassilak.

"We have to know what type of communication and relationship we need in order to then ask for it," she said.

Wassilak says that being intentional with what you are doing with your relationship can help buffer the feeling of loneliness.

She also says that while there are healthy ways to create digital connections, it's important to not neglect in-person relationships.