Healthy relationships are characterized by love and respect. Whether you are single, in a long-term partnership, or recently divorced, it's important to understand your communication style, how you behave in relationships, and how to feel more secure in your love life, friendships, and family relationships. Explore resources that'll help you create open conversations, identify issues, and much more.
Foundations of a Strong Relationship
Frequently Asked Questions
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While some issues, such as abuse or infidelity, may be instant relationship dealbreakers, other issues such as a lack of love, communication problems, lack of respect and trust, or growing apart may also be signs a relationship is in trouble.
Learn More: Signs Your Marriage Is Over -
Infidelity doesn't always mean the end of a relationship, but there are a number of things to consider when a partner has been unfaithful, such as the nature of the cheating, your partner's remorse, and whether or not you feel you can forgive or trust them moving forward.
Learn More: Should You Give Your Partner a Second Chance? -
Research supports the benefits of couples counseling, which can help change patterns of interaction, communication, your emotional connection, and how you handle conflict with your partner.
Learn More: How Couples Counseling Can Work for You
Key Terms
- Couples Therapy
Couples therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can help you and a partner improve your relationship. It has been shown to help improve communication, problem solving, and more.
- Codependency
Codependency is a mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual reliance on a partner, friend, or family member, who in turn uses that reliance to fulfill their own needs. It is generally considered an unhealthy relationship dynamic.
- Libido
Libido is your sexual appetite or drive. It can be impacted by hormones, brain function, learned behaviors, and fluctuate based physical and mental health conditions such as stress or depression.
- Emotional Affair
An emotional affair is when a person in a relationship invests significant time and energy in a friendship outside of that relationship to its detriment. While not sexually intimate, an emotional affair is often considered to be a form of cheating.
- Narcissism
Narcissism is a personality style marked by self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. In relationships, a narcissistic partner may lead you to feel manipulated and unloved and your needs unmet
- Attachment Styles
Attachment refers to the way you interact and behave in relationships. Believed to develop in childhood, your attachment style may impact your ability to have close, secure, long-lasting relationships.
Explore Relationships
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