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Understanding Emotional Intimacy and Vulnerability in Relationships

User Profile: KatePersephone
KatePersephone November 11th

  Emotional intimacy and vulnerability are crucial in relationships. They help deepen their relationships and become more meaningful. Without these two, relationships can feel like they’re shallow, with lack of understanding, and trust, that are essential in long-term relationships of any kind.

 

  Some of the benefits of emotional intimacy can be:

Feeling of closeness: With emotional intimacy, people have a deeper understanding of each other’s inner worlds.

Empathy: It can encourage empathy between people, which helps them relate to each other.

Conflict resolution: Emotional intimacy can help avoid and reduce conflicts between each other, through open communication.

Self-regulation: It can help people self-regulate, through being able to express their emotions and even managing them openly.

 

Building emotional intimacy and vulnerability can have its challenges, too. For example, a lot of people are afraid of being rejected or even judged when they open up about their emotions. A lot of past negative experiences can also make it difficult for people to open up. As well as self-criticism, trust issues and even cultural norms, based on their upbringing.


  It is still possible to build emotional intimacy and vulnerability, through small and slow steps. Let’s talk about it.

  • Firstly, understanding how our past experiences have shaped our fear of emotional intimacy and vulnerability can help in building these two.
  • Accepting that with emotional intimacy and vulnerability there are emotional risks, but they also bring great rewards. 
  • Being kind to ourselves and understanding that everyone has fears as well as insecurities.
  • Starting by sharing smaller aspects of ourselves to build confidence.

There are also different ways for people that can help them in slowly building emotional connection and vulnerability! Don’t be discouraged if some of these may not work the best.


Questions:

  1. If you have managed to build emotional intimacy and vulnerability, how did you do it? Share with us!
  2. What are some other ways you think would help in building emotional intimacy and vulnerability?

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User Profile: Clio9876
Clio9876 November 16th

@KatePersephone

I believe the first thing is to be vulnerable with yourself. If you can't be open and honest with yourself, it is doubly hard to be intimate with others.

The problem is, it's very hard to tell if you are keeping secrets from yourself. I certainly never knew. And I wonder what else there is to discover.

Well, I hope it will lead to more intimacy in my relationships. Otherwise it has just been procrastination!

User Profile: daydreammemories
daydreammemories November 18th

@KatePersephone

Awesome post! Thank you❤️

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