Healthy Venting for Self-Care

Hi Everyone!

Today I am talking about a kind of controversial topic and that is venting. I understand why this topic is controversial and that is because a lot of people don’t know the difference between healthy and unhealthy venting. 

So let’s go over that: 

Healthy: Short and to the point (usually lasts about 5 minutes), owns up to mistakes, doesn’t repeat the same things over and over, looks for solutions, doesn’t blame others, wants constructive feedback. 

Unhealthy: Long and repeating (can last up to an hour or even more), multiple topics at once, repeats over and over, doesn’t look for a solution, overwhelming, plays the victim, defensive.

Healthy venting can be very good and helpful for getting things off your chest. I don’t know about you but when I keep things bottled up over a long period of time, things never end well. I prefer to practice this regularly to prevent that from happening. 

I actually like to do this with my husband when we get home from work, if we have had a frustrating day. Instead of letting the thing bothering us waste our whole night, we just talk for about five minutes about that thing and move on. By doing this frequently, we can focus on the topic on hand and quickly work through it. We may even be able to help each other find a solution for when those things happen in the future. 

A healthy venting session can easily tip into the unhealthy side, so make sure you know the difference. If you do end up tipping, you can always correct yourself and try better next time. It’s the only way we can learn to do better. 

I hope you loved today’s topic. Please let me know what you think or what you would like to learn more about next in the comments below. Subscribe, if you would like to see my weekly content.