00:00 Toxic families are made up of toxic people.
00:03 Robin Stern, PhD, co-founder and associate director
00:07 of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence continues,
00:10 "The first sign is that you just don't feel right
00:12 "around them.
00:13 "You may feel anxious, depressed, inadequate, or sad,
00:16 "and don't feel physically safe.
00:19 "The biggest telltale sign to identify
00:21 "whether you have a toxic family
00:23 "is to notice when the negative significantly outweighs
00:26 "the positive in your interactions."
00:29 According to PhD and clinical psychologist,
00:32 Valentina Stoicheva.
00:33 "So how exactly can you empower yourself
00:36 "and set boundaries?
00:37 "Recognition is the first step
00:39 "before identifying which conversations
00:41 "or subjects are off limits."
00:43 Stern reminds you, "The word no is a whole sentence.
00:47 "Do your best to avoid arguments with that person.
00:50 "It may even be best to limit your contact
00:53 "with said person in general."
00:55 Stoicheva continues, "It doesn't have to be permanent,
00:58 "but you may need to distance yourself from that person
01:01 "to gain mental clarity."
01:03 (gentle music)
01:05 [MUSIC]
