How to Be More Open in a Relationship

Regardless of what kind of relationship you have, open communication is key. Practicing active listening, which includes nonjudgmental verbal acknowledgment of feelings, helps partners feel seen and heard.

It can also help couples explore their desires and needs in a safe space. That’s why it’s important to be honest about your feelings, and set clear boundaries.

Ask Questions

Asking questions can help you and your partner learn new things about one another. They can also create a feeling of closeness between you as you talk about intimate topics such as the person who most inspires them, their childhood dreams, and how they picture their future together. Intimate questions can be fun and light-hearted or they can be more serious and revealing. To get the most out of these questions, make sure to give your partner a chance to respond in detail and that you’re not interrupting them.

While you may believe that the questions you ask and how you ask them are irrelevant to whether or not you’ll receive an honest answer, it is important to think about the signals your asking behavior sends to your partner. These signals communicate a variety of messages, including the expectation that you’ll get a specific type of answer and the level of trust you have in them to be truthful.

A question that can spark a deep response is: “How would you describe me to others?” While it may seem like a shallow question, it allows your partner to reveal something about themselves that may surprise you. They might come back with a humorous answer or a heartfelt one, either way you’ll have more information about them to build intimacy with them.

Be Honest

Honesty in a relationship is essential to building trust. However, it can be difficult for many people. This is often due to past experiences that have made them afraid to express themselves fully, especially if those experiences were negative.

When you are honest with your partner, you are able to share your true thoughts and feelings without fear of being hurt or rejected. This vulnerability can increase your connection with them and allows you to really open up. However, it is important to remember that honesty doesn’t mean being harsh or blame-worthy. Always start your sentences with “I” statements and own up to your actions.

It is also important to choose a good time and place for these conversations. If your partner is in a bad mood or stressed, talking about something difficult may do more harm than good. It is also best to avoid discussing sensitive topics like money or sex until both partners are calm.

It can be hard to know how to respond when someone is being honest with you, especially if it’s difficult or painful information. If your partner tells you something that upsets you, try to remain calm and ask them what they meant by what they said. This can help you understand what they were trying to say and why it hurts.

Don’t Be Afraid

Emotional openness is the ability to express your true feelings. While this can be scary for many people, it is also the basis of healthy relationships. Emotional intimacy is the foundation of love and trust and it can only be achieved when you let people see all of your good aspects and bad ones.

Sometimes you may be afraid to open up because you have been hurt in the past. Whether it was by friends, family, or another partner, the pain of being emotionally manipulated can leave deep scars. This fear can prevent you from being emotionally intimate with your partner and it can be very damaging to the relationship.

You need to remember that there is nothing wrong with you if you have had negative experiences in the past. However, it is important to address the issues that have held you back and learn from them. This will allow you to move forward and be more open in the future.

If your partner suggests that you try out an open relationship, don’t be afraid to talk about it. Having this conversation will allow you to discuss the boundaries, limits, and rules that would go into such an arrangement. This will help you figure out whether it is something that you want to try or if it is a type of relationship that you would prefer not to pursue.

Be Flexible

Many people proudly describe themselves as “flexible”, “chill”, “down-to-earth”, and others like to say they “roll with the punches.” It’s important to be flexible in a relationship, but being flexible doesn’t mean being weak or passive. It’s about being able to adjust and change your ideas and plans, and to also be open to new suggestions and changes down the road.

Psychological flexibility can be a marriage-saving hack that prevents couples from reaching their breaking point in countless ways. It requires accepting that you can’t control everything, learning to be adaptable and being willing to try something different to improve your communication and connection with your spouse.

Let’s take a simple example of this: Your husband invites his mother-in-law over to dinner without running it by you first. She’s one of your least favorite people, and she tends to be critical of you and your life choices. You’re not happy, but you want to maintain a good relationship with his mom so you let it slide and act as though it doesn’t bother you.

But if your husband had been more flexible, maybe he would have run this by you and talked it over before inviting his mother-in-law over. It wouldn’t have completely changed your relationship with her, but it might have avoided the hurtful confrontation you experienced.