Healthy Relationships
According to statistics 48% relationships break up are by email - sending an email to break up can have a devastating impact emotionally on the other person. People are human beings and have feelings, be mindful of any types of fallouts.
Each partner takes responsibility for personal growth for stays in an adult ego state. This means each person works towards self-love, self-protection, self-care, self-containment, and self-identification.
Characteristics of Healthy Relationships
While all relationships are unique in their own way, some characteristics differentiate a healthy interpersonal connection from an unhealthy one. Here are several to consider.
Trust
Trust is a key component of healthy relationships. Research suggests that your ability to trust others is influenced by your overall attachment style. In other words, relationships experienced early in life help shape a person's expectations for future relationships.
If your past relationships have been secure, stable, and trusting, you are more likely to trust people in future relationships. If, however, your past relationships were unstable and undependable, you may have to work through trust issues going forward.
Trust is also established by how two people treat one another. When you see that the other person treats you well, is dependable, and will be there when you need them, you are more likely to develop trust in them. As this trust grows, the relationship becomes a greater source of comfort and security.
If you feel that you have to hide things from the other person, it may be because you lack this essential trust.
Openness and Self-Disclosure
Another characteristic of healthy relationships is feeling able to be yourself. While different couples have varying levels of openness and self-disclosure—the latter of which refers to what you are willing to share about yourself with another person—you should never feel like you have to hide aspects of yourself or change who you are.
At the beginning of a relationship, you may hold back and exercise more caution about what you're willing to reveal. Over time, as the intimacy of a relationship increases, partners begin to reveal more of their thoughts, opinions, beliefs, interests, and memories to one another.
Being open with each other helps you feel more connected as a couple while fostering greater trust. Self-disclosure can further enhance trust in your relationship.
Healthy Boundaries
Although your partner may have different needs than you, it's important to find ways to compromise while maintaining your boundaries. Boundaries are not about secrecy. Instead, they establish that each person has their own needs and expectations.
Healthy boundaries are unique to each individual and each couple. They establish what you will and will not accept in your relationship. Examples of healthy boundaries include agreeing not to go through each other's phones, giving each other the time and space to have friendships outside of the marriage, and respecting each other's personal space.
A partner with unhealthy expectations of openness and honesty might expect to know where you are and what you're doing at all times. They may also restrict who you can spend time with or demand access to your personal social media accounts.
Mutual Respect
In close, healthy relationships, people have a shared level of respect. They don't demean or belittle one another and offer support and security.
There are a number of different ways that couples can show respect for one another. These include:
Listening to one another
Not procrastinating or stonewalling when your partner asks you to do something
Being understanding and forgiving when one person makes a mistake
Building each other up, not tearing each other down
Making room in your life for your partner
Taking an interest in the things your partner enjoys
Allowing your partner to have their own individuality
Supporting and encouraging your partner’s pursuits and passions
Showing appreciation and gratitude for one another
Having empathy for one another
Love and Affection
Healthy relationships are characterized by love and affection. A relationship often begins with passionate love or an intense longing, strong emotions, and a need to maintain physical closeness. This eventually transforms into compassionate love, which is marked by feelings of affection, trust, intimacy, and commitment.
The initial passion that marks the start of a new relationship tends to decline over time. Even though intense feelings early on eventually return to normal levels, couples in healthy relationships are able to build progressively deeper intimacy as the relationship progresses.
It is important to remember that physical needs are different for each individual. There is no right amount of affection or intimacy that applies to everyone. The key to a healthy relationship is that both partners are content with the level of affection they share.
Good Communication
Healthy, long-lasting relationships—whether friendships or romantic partnerships—require the ability to communicate well. Being able to communicate doesn't mean having no conflicts. It means being able to resolve differences of opinion effectively.
When conflicts do arise, those in healthy relationships are able to avoid personal attacks. They remain respectful and empathetic of their partner as they discuss their thoughts and feelings and work toward a resolution.
Sometimes conflict can even be an opportunity to strengthen a connection with your partner. Research has shown that conflict can be beneficial in intimate relationships when serious problems need to be addressed, allowing partners to make changes that benefit the future of the relationship.
Even if your relationship seems healthy, it can be helpful at times to step back and look for improvements you can make together. Healthy relationships are marked by an ability to recognize problems, including your own, that might pose a threat to the long-term success of your relationship. By being willing to analyze your relationship, you can work together to build a more fulfilling partnership.
