Setting boundaries with your parents as an adult isnt always easy. But it may be necessary for your own well-being and the health of the relationship.

Know that boundaries are for you. Theyre a way to respect yourself and honor your needs. Theyre not about controlling other people in this case, your parents.

As Allison Hart , a psychological associate at Wellspace SF therapy practice, put it, boundaries describe your behavior, what you will do or how you will be when someone crosses them.

A boundary is not telling someone they need to change, she told HuffPost. Its changing your relationship to someone or their behavior when their actions are compromising your wellbeing.

Adult children often worry that if they set boundaries, they might jeopardize their relationship with their parents.

Its a terrifying thought to lose our parents, said Kate Stoddard , a marriage and family therapist at Wellspace SF. However, what is lost from not trying to create a dynamic that is actually healthy? You may be living with this fear of loss, doing things out of guilt that you dont want to do and then feeling resentful, or feeling controlled or beholden to others.