In several of my close relationships, it feels like recently the dynamic has shifted to being their sounding board/ unpaid therapist over the past few weeks/months. I don’t mind offering emotional support to friends and family if it is reciprocated in my time of need, but recently it feels overwhelming - I’m a single parent, working full time in a demanding healthcare role, I don’t have the mental capacity to take on everyone else’s problems and it’s very draining.
I work in mental healthcare, so I feel this makes me the first choice for people to offload their problems on to.
How do I put boundaries in place regarding this, so it doesn’t sour the relationships (which I value)?