The Challenging Paradox of Trust in Relationships

"Often, a conflict around trust must be exposed and accepted by a couple before trust issues can be resolved."

Trust is a key ingredient in healthy relationships. Clinicians helping couples rebuild trust may face unexpected challenges. Trust problems can stem from an internalized conflict about wanting trust versus rejecting trust. Couples often need to expose and accept the conflict surrounding trust before trust issues can be resolved. Traditional approaches emphasize vulnerability, where partners share hearts and minds without fear of being seen as irreparably flawed. Men may struggle more when weakness is viewed negatively, leading them to suffer in silence and face complaints about insufficient intimacy. Even when vulnerability is difficult for everyone, trust can become more complicated in meaningful relationships when past painful distrust is internalized and repeatedly reenacted.

Read at Psychology Today