None of us are trying to have unhealthy relationships purposely. But sometimes, it can be hard to know what is healthy and what is harmful. Plus, it can be tricky to recognize which areas may need improvement in your relationship.
So, where can you start?
When it comes to relationships, one of the essential aspects to establish is a healthy means of communication. Paying close attention to others and setting boundaries are crucial elements as well. And once you have an understanding of your relationship patterns, it’s also vital to address issues instead of merely avoiding them.
By making efforts to maintain healthy relationships, you’re setting yourself up for the best chance of success and reaping benefits. That said, here are four key benefits of healthy relationships.
1. Conflict Resolution Through Open Communication
Communication is crucial in a relationship, and most people would agree on this. Nonetheless, many lack communication skills. When a conflict arises, they choose to avoid the issue instead of talking about it and overcoming it. This approach seems like the easiest thing to do at the time—but it won’t work for long-term relationships.
By addressing the conflict in your relationships, you’re taking a vital step toward more open communication. More so, you’re opening up and allowing disputes to be resolved instead of thrown on the back-burner. Addressing conflicts prevents your relationships from falling down the same rabbit holes over and over again.
2. Preventing Codependency by Setting Boundaries
It’s not always comfortable to set boundaries with others. For example, in a romantic relationship, some may want to spend all of their time with their partner. This mindset isn’t inherently an issue. But all too often, couples become codependent on one another and lose essential elements of their independence.
When you choose to be in a partnership with someone, you’re going to lose some of your independence. That’s what a partnership is! However, make sure that you set boundaries for both your partner and yourself. This way, you can still have some autonomy and avoid falling into a codependent relationship.
3. Avoiding Addictive Relationships by Prioritizing Your Needs
Similarly to codependent relationships, addictive ones can be extremely detrimental to our physical and emotional health. To prevent an addictive relationship, you must prioritize your mental health and well-being.
Sure, this seems like common sense, but people fall into this habit of needing to be with someone all the time. You may feel like you can’t live without the other person or have a pattern of breaking up with and then returning to the same partner. This pattern isn’t healthy and can cause you to settle for a relationship that’s mired in conflict, or that is highly toxic.
4. Room for Emotional and Intellectual Growth
When we enter relationships, we continue to grow individually too. Many people tend to lose sight of this when they become romantically involved with someone, for example. However, it’s always essential to leave room for emotional and intellectual growth.
While you can encourage the other person to grow and evolve alongside you, don’t let that trump working on your personal growth. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a relationship where your growth is substantially blocked. If you want to have healthy relationships, both need to be able to grow and adapt.
Consider Counseling to Help Maintain Healthy Relationships
Relationships can be incredibly rewarding. Everyone deserves to feel loved, and relationships allow us to love and be loved on a very intimate level—be that by a romantic partner, family members, or friends.
Because of this love, however, you may overlook other aspects of your relationships that aren’t as healthy. Of course, no relationship goes on without its issues. And just because your relationships may have some, doesn’t mean you’re doomed. It merely means that you need to find solutions to create happier, healthier relationships by being mindful of boundaries, communication, and growth.
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If you feel like there is room for improvement in your relationships, why not consider professional help? Please, feel free to contact me and find out more about my approach to relationship counseling.