Maintaining a healthy relationship for anyone takes work. But it takes extra work when you’re a highly sensitive person. As with any relationship, for it to be healthy and successful means communicating effectively and navigating your boundaries and this is even more critical when you are highly sensitive.
Having an open, honest, and deep relationship with your partner will help you thrive together.
Maintaining a healthy relationship takes effective communication.
If you’re an HSP, your needs can vary from others. Communicating your need for time to gather your thoughts, process emotions, or think through a conversation before you connect with your partner, is important. The worst thing your partner can do is try to push you to talk or connect, but they will if you don’t explain to them your own needs. Maintaining a healthy relationship is about taking the time you need.
Giving your partner a timeline will help you both navigate difficult conversations gracefully and successfully. Even though the wise tale says never go to bed angry, sometimes as an HSP you will need to go to bed processing, and there’s a difference. Maintaining your sensitivity is important to the health of the relationship. Allowing yourself the time for you to process, will help your relationship flourish. Your sensitivity will be supported and honored.
Setting the right boundaries in your relationship will help you both flourish.
Do you need 30 minutes to yourself after work each day? If this helps you emotionally manage your day and process everything that has occurred at work, then do it! Does your partner need to work through their negative emotions before they walk in the door so you don’t absorb them? Tell them! It’s important you are honest and open if you want the relationship to be successful.
Allowing yourself the boundaries and freedom to be you, will help you maintain a healthy relationship and ensure you feel like the relationship is the right fit for you. Setting your boundaries allows your partner to support and understand you which is key to maintaining the health of your relationship.
HSPs need trust, authenticity, purpose, and depth in their relationships to feel satisfied.
Finding ways to support all of these needs takes teamwork. Learning to build the foundation together will help you maintain a healthy relationship long term. It’s important for your partner to be able to ground you and help you walk through your sensitivities.
Taking a quiet walk together in the morning or evening, reading in bed together, or simply relaxing by the fireplace quietly are all ways to help you thrive.
How to maintain a healthy relationship depends entirely on you.
Not every HSP is the same, which means you need to identify how your needs may differ, and open the conversation with your partner. You can make a list of ways your partner can support your sensitivity to maintain a healthy relationship. Are your preferred lighting choices for your bedtime routine different than theirs? Do you need to limit your time at family functions?
Having a monthly or bi-monthly conversation about these requests is important. You’ll want to check in regularly to ensure you aren’t bottling up any frustrations.
Your partner may also have some preferences they haven’t yet shared with you, and this will open that door too. These conversations build honesty and authenticity with your partner, which are both vital foundations for relationships with an HSP.
If you aren’t sure of your boundaries or what you need to feel supported and thrive as your full authentic self, talk to an expert. Connecting with someone who is familiar with HSPs will allow you to identify how you can show up with your best foot forward in all relationships – including the one with yourself!
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