#75. Concern With a Friend's Relationship

This Conversation Will Help You…

1. Determine when to bring up the conversation
2. Name your concerns
3. Offer your support

Think About This First

• This conversation gives a framework that can help young people think about how they could be a good friend by bringing up concerns about their relationship.
• This conversation includes bringing up both concerns about how a friend is being treated, and concerns about how a friend is treating their partner.

Having the Conversation

Start here:

If you had something serious you wanted to bring up with a friend, when would your friend want you to bring it up?

How would you know?

How did you learn this about your friend?

If you don’t know, how could you ask them?

Would your friend probably want to be approached alone or around other people?

How would you find this out?

If you knew you had something serious to bring up to a friend, and you didn’t know how they would take it, how would you bring it up?

How would you want people to bring things up to you?

Is there a way that people can bring things up without the other person getting defensive or upset?

Continue:

What ways do you think could work best with your friend?

How would you make sure that you are naming all the concerns you have?

How would you know that they’ve heard you?

Keep Talking:

What kinds of support do you think a friend would want if they felt unsafe in their relationship?

What kinds of support would a friend want if you told them you felt they were not treating their partner well?

Are the pieces of support the same, or different?

Why or why not? 

What if your friend is unaware that their relationship is unhealthy?

How could you express it to them?