How to decide whether to step back from a difficult relationship — or stick it out

Marielle Segarra

Clare Marie Schneider

Malaka Gharib

October 28, 2025 / 1:01 pm

You have a strained relationship with your father, but he recently developed health issues and needs someone to care for him. You don't feel emotionally fulfilled in your marriage, but you've been with your partner for 10 years. You've made a new friend who's nice most of the time, but is mean when she's angry.

Should you step back from these relationships or stick them out?

These are the kinds of dilemmas that therapist KC Davis tackles in her book published earlier this year, Who Deserves Your Love: How to Create Boundaries to Start, Strengthen or End Any Relationship . It offers practical advice on how to

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