Tips for Building a Healthy Relationship
My clients always tell me that they want to feel loved and connected to their partners and they ask me for my top relationship tips. These tips can help you build and keep a romantic relationship that’s healthy, happy, and satisfying.
Communicate with your partner – It’s great to be able to communicate openly and honestly with our significant others. These chats can happen regularly and can contain tidbits from our day as well as longer chats focusing on heavier topics as well.
Acts of kindness – Don’t underestimate the lasting benefits of small acts of kindness, which can include saying thank you for daily chores that we take for granted. Pick up your partner’s favorite tea or desert when out grocery shopping- send a cute text to say you are thinking of him/her. Little things go a really long way.
Showing support – We all need someone to lean on. Show your partner that you are there for him or her through good times and challenging ones as well. Practice the art of listen to what you partner has to say and do make verbal and other gestures to let them know that you hear them and support them as well.
Respect your partner – Respect in a relationship is reflected in how you treat each other on a daily basis. Even if you disagree or have an argument, you are able to respect and value each other’s opinions and feelings. In a healthy relationship, respect looks like:
- Talking openly and honestly with each other
- Listening to each other
- Valuing each other’s feelings and needs
- Speaking kindly to and about each other
- Supporting each other’s interests, hobbies, careers, etc.
- Building each other up
Learn how to compromise – Compromise is a necessary part of any successful relationship. For two people to work together as a team, each person has to give and take once in a while. When trying to compromise, consider all the options and try to put yourself in your partner’s shoes. Be careful to make you’re your ego isn’t interfering and do remember that you don’t have to be right.
RACHEL A. SUSSMAN, LCSW, is a licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, writer and lecturer. She is the founder of Sussman Counseling, a psychotherapy practice based in New York City, specializing in treating couples and individuals with relationship dilemmas. She is the author of THE BREAKUP BIBLE: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Healing from a Breakup or Divorce (Random House).
