When youre in a relationship , occasionally venting to your friends about your partner is normal and even healthy: it can help you process your feelings or put certain problems in perspective. But when the complaining is constant, it becomes unproductive and can put strain on the friendship, too.

Hearing your friend complain again and again inevitably begins to color your perception of their partner.

If they are only telling you about the negative aspects of their relationship and partner, they are giving you an incomplete and possibly inaccurate picture of the relationship, Chicago therapist Anna Poss told HuffPost. You may then start to dislike their partner and become frustrated with them for staying in a relationship that you understand to be wholly negative.

And if your friend relies on conversations with you to deal with the issues, rather than talking them through with their partner, it could be doing a disservice to their relationship.

Its kind of like procrastination. You can put off that big project, instead settling into the couch with some popcorn, but that project is not going anywhere, said Nicole O-Pries , a therapist at Virginia Affirming Counseling in Richmond, Virginia. And if you keep procrastinating on that project, its going to make you feel bad tomorrow and the day after that. You have to work on the project. You have to work on the relationship.

Below, therapists share some signs that your friends complaining may be excessive and advice on how to respond.

When Venting Goes Too Far