Couple relationships represent an essential part of people’s lives, from adolescence to old age.  Although some of them do not last forever, they create a space to share time, emotions, feelings, objectives, and life itself with a special person.  However,  it is not only about spending time together, but it is also vital to build a healthy couple relationship that provides balance and happiness.

But, what do you need to have a healthy couple relationship? The most important thing is that both persons in the relationship feel relaxed, respected, valued and loved.  Where each of them has the space and chance of being himself/herself following their desires and purposes in life.  That is why it is important, to think beyond physical attraction and the desire to share time together when you are about to start a bond.

Healthy relationships must be built based on assertive communication and from love, mutual respect and trust. Self-love, physical, emotional, and sexual boundaries must be respected at all times and are crucial to creating a healthy connection.  Know the 3 more important aspects to build healthy bonds.

Foundations of a healthy couple relationship

Assertive communication

Communicating with love and respect is essential to building and strengthening relationships. Learn how this communication needs to be:

Each person must feel comfortable when expressing emotions, frustrations, and worries.

In a healthy relationship, there can be disagreements that are solved respectfully.

Using degrading expressions and failing to express the needs of each person can be harmful for the relationship.

When the couple has disagreements, they need to prevent blame, manipulation, intimidation, violence or threats.

 Trust

Trust is an essential aspect in all kinds of relations, even further in relationships cases where intimacy is much greater than cases as friendships.  Learn to identify what happens when there is not trust in the relationship.

if there is trust, there is no room for jealousy.

A trust gap usually leads to resentment for the time spent with others and obsessive behaviors such as monitoring communications.

If the is actual trust, the partners do not feel threatened by each other’s family relationships or friendships.

 Respect for boundaries

Identifying each person’s boundaries and communicating them and having them respected by the partner is a key factor in building a relationship. Identify how it looks when boundaries are not respected:

Bringing up emotional wounds or past traumas in discussions is an obvious sign of not respecting emotional boundaries.

Not practicing safe sex, pressuring the other person to agree to sexual activity even when he or she is not comfortable, sabotaging birth control, or ignoring safe words constitute sexual boundary violations.

Physical boundaries are violated when personal space is not respected, even more so in discussions; physical contact is used in a way that the other person does not feel comfortable with; and when a certain behavior makes one of the people involved uncomfortable and continues to be repeated despite the fact that the other person has expressed discomfort.

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Tips for a healthy couple relationship

Although there are no perfect relationships and each one has its particularities, there are some characteristics that allow you to identify a healthy bond. Know more about the following characteristics:

Avoid idealizing the relationship. Relationships are not all the time as they were at the beginning, they experience changes over time.

Take care of the relationship. Relationships are not built on their own, they demand attention and joint work.

Spend quality time together. The desire to spend time together and for this sharing time to be of quality is fundamental to building and maintaining a healthy bond.

Accept the differences between partners. The strength of the relationship comes from knowing and respecting each other’s points of view.

Do not pretend to change who your partner is, accept his/her differences. In a relationship is common to give up on some aspects; however, it is not right to want to change the way the other person is.

Encourage proper communication. Have a listening attitude and avoid assuming a defensive pose.

A relationship can not be built without trust. If there is no reason to distrust, this type of attitude negatively affects the relationship.

Be honest. Honesty is a key virtue to cultivate trust in a relationship.

Respect your partner. Respect is essential for love.

A healthy couple relationship requires interest, effort, and reciprocal work. Both persons must be equally committed to building together. The moment the effort is only from one of the partners, the relationship starts to have problems and the bond may no longer be healthy. So pay attention to the characteristics of your relationship and the work it requires to be calm and harmonious.

Through the #YoDigoNoMas Movement you can educate yourself about the importance of building healthy bonds with those special people in your life. In addition, if you feel that your boundaries have been violated by your partner, we can provide support, Tell us your story! You can also learn more about the Movement and join our cause.