How do I know if I have a healthy relationship?

Happy couple

Healthy relationships don't just happen, they are built and both partners must work on improving themselves first as well as the partnership. Here are 10 important characteristics of a healthy relationship:

  1. Time Together - The very definition of a relationship: "the way in which two people are connected." Go on dates, video chat, and make each other a priority with time.
  2. Time Apart - It's also healthy to have separate interests, friendships, and hobbies too. You'll both grow as individuals and appreciate each other more.   
  3. Boundaries - Give each other privacy and personal space, and know where you end and your partner begins.  
  4. Safety - Both partners feel safe without any physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse.
  5. Trust - Trust is a key component, and you must be vulnerable. Time to build will vary, but you should be able to rely on each other's loyalty and honesty overall.
  6. Communication - Open and honest communication while sharing your wants, needs, and feelings - even when they differ from your partner's.
  7. Managing Conflict - Every couple experiences conflict from time to time, and the key to managing your differences is connecting without insults, name-calling, sarcasm, and other types of negativity.
  8. Teamwork - A couple in a healthy relationship views themselves as a team, and teams work together - they don't compete against each other.  
  9. Intimacy -Mutually satisfying sexual relationship and the ability to share thoughts, feelings, and needs with one another. Physical and emotional intimacy maintains the connection.
  10. Commitment - Maintain your commitment with boundaries between your relationship and the outside world. Work to block any "exits" in the relationship with an effort to thrive.

When you hit a roadblock, you work on rebuilding that connection again, which may include seeking therapy or online relationship advice.

Written by:

Norene Gonsiewski, LCSW
Relationship Coach, Counselor, Author and Educator since 1980
https://rocksolidrelationshiphelp.com/

Imago Relationships North America
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Huntley, IL 60142
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