There's no way around it breaking up straight-up blows. Even if you didn't love the relationship, splitting up with someone you've spent any significant amount of time around can be painful and twisted and confusing.
At different times in my life, I have been the dumper and the dumpee. Being the dumper is never fun because of the anxiety, awkwardness and conflict that is sure to follow. If you're the dumper in a serious relationship, it's not like you don't have a heart: It hurts to see someone you love in pain, even if you believe the relationship has run its course.
* Accept the empty feelingThat moment when you realize you've been dumped by the love of your life feels like death. And as actor and comedian Jim Dailakis points out, it should. The key is to allow yourself to embrace the grief if you ever want to move past it. Dailakis tells SheKnows, Breaking up is very similar to a death because it is in fact the death of a relationship. For at least a couple of days, remember the good times and allow yourself to cry like mad.
* Cut off all contact for realIn this case, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. Absence is exactly what you need to cool off, process your feelings and change your perspective at the end of a relationship. Laura Yates, a UK-based relationship and dating coach who specializes in heartbreak, explains, Something I recommend is a period of no contact. No texts, emails or social media messages because you need time and distance to get emotional clarity.
* Feel your feelingsI'm a big believer in feeling your feelings until you are done feeling them. But sometimes raw feelings, especially after a breakup, can get overwhelming, and that's where cognitive behavioral therapy fits in.
* Challenge your negative thoughtsIf I've done it once, I've done it a thousand times. I start to allow myself to feel my saddest feelings after being dumped, and then my thoughts take a sordid turn into Crazytown, population: me. Dr. Rego says that this type of post-breakup thought pattern is to be expected. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help challenge thoughts that are spinning out of control.
* Get back out thereNo, you don't have to sign up for a dating website with a quivering chin and tear tracks still fresh on your face, but you do have to make an effort to spend time with people you care about. This step is critically important to bring back a sense of normalcy to your life — and to remind you of all the people you have in your corner.