Questions tagged [how-to-help]
Use this tag for questions looking to identify interpersonal skills which can help another person with interpersonal issues. Questions must have a clear and specific goal!
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Trying to teach my nephew to improve on a skill
My nephew (16y) is a little bit on the spectrum and sometimes has a hard time dealing with people but has a great capacity to learn.
He loves to create 'games' on a platform called scratch.
I (36y) am ...
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2
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616
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How do I help my wife to see her potential?
My wife comes from a background of a controlling, abusive mother who always told her that she was incapable, and then a controlling, abusive (now former) husband who always told her that she was ...
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2
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My boyfriend blocked me, I would like to make up with him
Background: I have been dating my boyfriend for almost four years. We are a long distance couple.
Basically my boyfriend blocked me on all social media because I have overreacted on him. That was two ...
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4
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How to support people who feel something mistakenly without invalidating their feelings
A few times recently I've found myself trying to offer support to people that are unhappy because they feel something that I think is false.
For example, my girlfriend sometimes says "I feel so ...
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What type of support should I offer my partner who clearly hates his job?
Background
I'm a 22-year-old and have a long-time partner, who I have been with since we met at university. We both live in the Midwest in the United States, and have been planning to move into an ...
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How to encourage a relative to follow their initial will to try therapy?
The elder sister of my boyfriend is in a situation I would not envy: being in her 50s, jobless and no qualification, married to someone she doesn't really love and controlling her finance tightly, ...
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1
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How to get close to an old friend, who is struggling with his situation now
I had a really good friend (let's call him X).The kind teachers would call inseparable.
We went to the same school, the same private tuition and then hung out for some time. We were practically apart ...
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2
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401
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Can't get through to someone who needs help
I've known someone through a social activity group for about a year. At first he seemed a bit odd, but more or less harmless. He's a smart and funny guy and it can be good talking with him in short ...
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How to talk to a friend about her concerning social media posts?
Recently one of my friends has been writing concerning posts on her social media. She said something like "my life has always been so hard", and "what's the point of living if there is so much ...
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2
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How to support my friend who is going to have surgery?
One of my best friends is going to have a cardiac surgery and she is only 17. Unfortunately she is in a high-functioning depression and I really don't know what to say or what to do for her to give ...
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How to identify and approach persons of low income with the aim to help [closed]
I apologize in advance if this seems distasteful in any way, I'm genuinely trying to be helpful.
I live in a low income area in the UK, however I am fairly comfortable financially.
It pains me ...
- 141
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1
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876
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How to talk to someone crying alone in the airport? [closed]
I witnessed a lady bursting in tears while using the phone (I assume she was conversing with someone via text), at the gate. Particularly, this happened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She was sitting on ...
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2
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1k
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How to deal with a depressed person who thinks people are uniting against her?
Let's call this person Alice.
Alice is currently in therapy and taking drugs to treat a long lasting depression. Alice is also quite egocentric i.e. likes to be in everybody's focus and tries to get ...
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3
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How to express sympathy to a very great friend whose father is dying very soon?
Right now I am confronted with a difficult situation where I want to ask for your empathetic recommendation. The father of one of my very best friends strongly suffers on cancer and is dying very soon ...
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How to help my girlfriend be more expressive of herself and develop own identity
I have a girlfriend whom I love very much. She is very intelligent and has a warm, caring personality. However, one thing I noticed is that she is somewhat reluctant to have her own opinions on a lot ...
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2
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330
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How do I comfort someone I love after their dad died? [closed]
The dad of the girl that I love died some days ago. And I just want to make her feel better but I don't know the words, if I need to let her vent.
I'm so cold talking with people about love because it'...
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How to help a stranger (woman) in an abusive relationship?
I'm in an online support group for people with anxiety, depression and these kinds of things and, in this group, people would often post things about the difficult situation they are in.
Recently, a ...
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22
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Warning someone that they have been suckered into a scam
A friend of mine (let's call her Anne) was recently drawn into attending life-coaching sessions, through an organization which is a scam based on the Lifespring model (tl;dr they give you a ...
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6
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How to support a friend when you disagree with their choices?
Background
I (M) have a very close friend (F) who has recently been affected by an autoimmune disorder. Doctors' responses have been, essentially, 'well, we don't know why this happened but this is ...
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How to ask a possibly depressed, not-so-close friend if they need help
Context: Western European country, people involved are in their late 20's
I was at a party at a friends house, where I met a mutual acquaintance, whom I have met only a few times in the past.
We had ...
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Worried about girlfriend lifestyle changes
My girlfriend has been experimenting with different lifestyle changes lately, which I think is not only amazing, but an important element in growth. I would like to support her through all these ...
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How can I communicate to a friend that he should apply to more jobs?
An acquaintance of mine is a teacher.
Because of a change of rules at his school, all the teachers will have to reapply for their jobs next year. I'm sure he'll get his job back, but if he does not, ...
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How to deal with a family member who does not care about anything in life?
TL;DR How to help/support a close person with no long-term goals in life who shies away from everything that is not immediately rewarding.
My brother seems to be completely unmotivated. The only ...
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How can I help my friend accept that the relationship is over?
After 9 months into the relationship, my early 20's friend just got dumped. She thought he was the one. He'd say things like "I've never felt this way with anyone before," or "I could see myself being ...
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How to make girlfriend feel better about health and body
For context, my girlfriend and I have been dating for about a year now, and we're really close, especially when it comes to talking things over. We would both describe ourselves as nerds, and would ...
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0
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539
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Helping a friend who will likely die without help, but refuses help? [closed]
So I have a friend who's suffering from a condition known as cirrhosis that will likely take their life anytime between several months from now and several years from now.
The thing is, this ...
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10
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How to answer a technical question without sounding patronizing
Context :
My girlfriend (let's call her V) and I, are programmers, and sometimes we ask each other questions when we believe the other may have an answer.
A few times, she’s told me that I sounded ...
user20726
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7
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How to help a friend through a rough breakup when his actions are testing the limits of my patience?
One of my close friends, who is 25, has recently broken up with his girlfriend of 10-11 months. Naturally, he has turned to me and other people close to him for help and support.
My friend is, by ...
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1
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Disproving false beliefs of an acquaintance which may be dangerous or affect our relationships [duplicate]
There is a similar question here: How to tell someone believing in pseudoscience & conspiracy theories is wrong without making them feel stupid/upset? My question has a different setting: I'm ...
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How to suggest someone to find a hobby without offending them?
As for the topic, if possible I'd be grateful for general answer and more specific one regarding following situation:
My girlfriend has a clinically diagnosed depression (she attends visits with ...
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0
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303
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Relationship with alcoholic cross country? [closed]
I am struggling to figure out how to have a productive relationship with a friend struggling with alcoholism cross country.
We were both part of a large and strong friend group in college. After ...
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3
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How do I deal with my girlfriends anxiety affecting my relationship with my friends
My girlfriend has anxiety issues for which she currently is prescribed medication. The medication helps but she still struggles with social occasions, especially when she does not know many people ...
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How to deal with brother-in-law drinking and smoking way too much? [closed]
Story
I'm 25 years old - my GF is 24 -, her brother is 20.
He is a very kind and easy-going person, we both have sympathy and consideration for each other.
However I noticed that during family meeting ...
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1
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Should I tell someone exactly what to say?
This question came about because of a comment someone made about an answer I posted recently. I'm aware that this site deals in specifics but I do feel that the question itself is specific while it ...
user11728
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3
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How can I explain to someone that they are not being bullied, that instead he is bullying?
Names in this question are not actual names, not even online pseudonyms. I am the leader of a mediumsized online gaming community (about 50 active members). Alice and Bob assist me in running this ...
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5
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What to do when a friend's close relative dies? [duplicate]
As a 17 years old, I have never had to face this unfortunate and sad situation before. My friend's grandad just died, what can I do to support him?
I live in Delhi, India . My friend comes from a ...
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6
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How to respond to a flat-earther? [closed]
I wanted to provide evidence for a friend who recently shocked me with her views that the Elon Musk car in space was a fake. My answer to her that I trust people who specialize in the field to know ...
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2
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How can I help my father understand our dog's needs?
Our family dog is a very cheerful border collie. She's great with people, kids too, but not with other dogs. She is scared of them. We got her when she was a year old and she never learned to walk on ...
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How to explain that it upsets me to see people kill insects?
I feel like most humans have judged value of life by size since beginning of the universe, but I tend to not share that same viewpoint.
For example, when something sweet is left in my kitchen, ...
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3
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4k
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Tips on reassuring partner with bad experiences with previous partners
So... I'm looking at trying to help my current partner (girlfriend) help overcome her emotions when we get in a little bit of a minor argument about random topics and she gets emotional about me ...
user10013
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15
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How can I help my Significant Other to overcome his fear particularly when I don't understand it?
Everything is in the title but in case it matters here is some context:
I don't fear things (spiders or snakes or blood or needles or whatever) and I don't really understand how/why people are afraid ...
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How to ask someone how their diet is going
A bunch of my coworkers started a diet as part of their New Year's resolutions. I don't have much in common with most of them, and often have trouble finding topics for small talk. Since dieting is ...
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How do I help my "online" friend who suffers from depression and anxiety? [closed]
How I met her:
She's a friend of my EX with whom I was in a long distance relationship (countries apart) and when my EX broke up with me, she offered me help, support and listened to me complaining ...
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2
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2k
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How would I help a person who is bored of everything to start being a little more productive? [closed]
I have a friend who is literally bored of everything (Male, in his twenties, student).
The individual is studying a very interesting subject, Computing Science. He is an average student. He is in his ...
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6
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How to help my mother work through extreme anxieties?
My mom has had anxiety issues for as long as I can remember. It used to be sort of quirky and not disruptive of our lives, including (but not limited to):
Touring each room of the house to make sure ...
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105
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11
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How to tell someone believing in pseudoscience & conspiracy theories is wrong without making them feel stupid/upset?
A close family member of mine is a raw vegan, anti vaxer, anti-antibiotics, anti-fluoride, believes in chemtrails, has a machine that filters water and makes it alkaline, eats lots of supplements, ...
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3
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4k
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How to ask my girlfriend to take anger management classes?
It occurs once per two days, on average. She gets mad about something really stupid and not worth arguing about, yells, gets really upset, stops talking.
For example, we go somewhere, she's not sure ...
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1
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902
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How to help a mate overcome being kicked out of university?
I've got a new friend of mine, call her Sue. Sue got kicked out of university today. We haven't known each other for a long time, but I do feel like helping her. I want to help her prevent/overcome ...
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2
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962
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How to tell co-worker not to ask me do last minute work?
Frequently, when I am just about to leave my workplace, my co-worker asks me to pass him something that he needs (to do his work) about 5 minutes before work time ends. Sometimes, I do not have it ...
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1
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How to help someone who threatens self-harm over the internet? [closed]
I'm not sure if it belongs here but I'm at a loss. There's a woman in South Africa who doesn't have anyone to turn to. I'm trying to help talk her out of harming herself. She says she's lost ...
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