Intent Vs. Impact: Navigating Boundaries with Religious Family Members

From this month’s blog by CTRR Practitioner Nicole Clifton:

“For those navigating faith deconstruction, processing religious trauma, and pursuing personal healing, a common dynamic that arises is the realization of how family members or loved ones may have contributed to negative or unsustainable relationship dynamics.

This can be a challenging thing to wrestle with—knowing that people you love are saying or doing hurtful things that may cost you greatly as you try to navigate your own healing. While there may be some people who are aware that they are causing harm and do not care about the impact, there are plenty of our religious loved ones who believe they have good intentions in the way they are showing up in their relationships. However, something that is often forgotten is that malintent is not needed to create harm.

One of the most fundamental relationship principles I discuss with clients is the distinction between intention and impact. This principle applies to family relationships, romantic partnerships, friendships, colleagues, and more.”

To view the full blog post, please visit this page.