#emotional-safety

#emotional-safety

Guts typically refer to "innards," and truth and compassion live at the core of an ever-deepening relationship. Referring to someone as having "guts" typically denotes some measure of bravery. That's also true when a couple commits to truth-telling accompanied by compassion. Revealing what lives at our core takes courage, and expressing it without being offensive demands practice. It is only too easy for a shaming smirk or an amplified tone to hurt the listener.

Engage and participate in your partner's passions/interests and hobbies.

If they tried to set [boundaries] as a kid, there would either be intense pushback to the point where it becomes not worth it, or a blow up to the point where it becomes not worth it,

"I just had this conversation with my mother, who's been married for 30-plus years. Here's what she wants and needs to feel pursued." "Emotional safety, consistently. A messy house and a lack of flowers are neither here nor there. She wishes that she could go to her husband and say 'this thing is really bothering me,' and him not exploding (even on her behalf, not necessarily at her) and just being another thing she has to mitigate.

Emotional safety impacts health outcomes just as much as physical safety-suggesting that emotional safety is not an option in healthcare environments.

Emotional momentum can be mistaken for emotional safety, leading to deep investments in relationships based on fleeting excitement rather than genuine compatibility.

At the heart of connection is the feeling that your thoughts, emotions, and perceptions are not just valid, but also recognized by someone else. This doesn't require total agreement, but it does require enough overlap in how you each make sense of the world.

To help yourself relax, try stretching and taking breaths with an extended exhale.

When your emotional world has long felt invisible, even a brief moment of genuine recognition can feel extraordinary. We may interpret emotional safety as intimacy and validation as love.