In the course of your relationship, conflict is bound to happen. So what happens when the discord escalates from a mildly irritating disagreement to a full-blown heartbreak? Hurtful arguments and other forms of betrayal, such as infidelity, can create obvious problems in your love paradise.
Both the emotional and physical bond you share with your partner is important for a healthy, happy union. But it can be difficult to want to share your heart or your body with someone after you have been through a conflict together.
Recovering from an affair or another form of betrayal can wreak havoc on your healing process, especially when it comes to the intimacy that you share with your significant other. How can you restore intimacy in your relationship after a betrayal?
Here are 8 tips for recovering from the damages of a conflict or betrayal:
Talk and Talk and Talk
Bodies, minds, and hearts work in unison when a betrayal or relationship conflict has occurred. They all become closed off to your partner after there has been a strain in your partnership.
In order to restore your connection to your companion, you need to communicate openly about the conflict. Be calm and honest with one another about the problems in your relationship. Only then will you be able to establish intimacy and work on rebuilding trust.
Apologize to Each Other
It’s easy to focus on your partner’s wrongdoings during a conflict, but remember that it takes two to tango. In order to move on after things have turned sour, both offending parties should accept responsibility for the role they played in the incident and genuinely apologize before taking the next step to move on.
Problem Solve
How did the estrangement occur? Was it a lack of communication or too much alcohol that led you to say things you shouldn’t have? Was there a seemingly ‘innocent’ incident on social media that led to an emotional or physical affair?
Instead of attacking one another, focus on solving the problem at hand. The solution to your relationship upheavals may be as simple as practicing different communication methods or as complicated as seeing a marital therapist to work on your issues.
Whatever your method for problem-solving, you cannot move on and begin to restore intimacy unless you figure out what went wrong in the relationship and how to prevent it from happening again.
Build Your Bond
Whether you’ve been through an intense fight or a mind-numbing betrayal such as infidelity, it can be difficult to focus on anything else when you’re together.
Now that you’ve talked about your issues and you’ve both taken responsibility for the marital conflict, it’s time to start rebuilding your bond.
Ignoring your problems is not healthy, but sometimes you’ll need to table your conflict discussion. Healing takes time, patience, love, and effort. It can be difficult to move on and strengthen your relationship if your hurtful conflict is constantly being brought up.
Practice a regular date night together. This way you can have one day or night a week where you don’t bring up issues plaguing your relationship. Instead, focus on having fun together. Plan dates and focus on romance.
Focus on Emotional Intimacy
There is more to an intimate bond than having sex. One way you can work on reconnecting intimately is by using non-sexual intimacy.
Emotional intimacy comes from having deep conversations with one another and sharing in non-sexual touch. Expressing love or appreciation, hugging , kissing one another, caressing, and admiring one another without sex are all excellent building blocks to restoring a physical connection.
Reconnect Intimately
Reconnecting intimately after your bonds have been broken can be difficult. The last thing you want to do to someone who has broken your trust or hurt your feelings is create a sexual connection with them. Yet, that is what many couples need in order to start trusting one another again.
Thus, a vicious cycle begins:
1. Trust is broken.
2. You want to be intimate with your partner.
3. The thought of being intimate after betrayal then frustrates, repulses, or upsets you.
4. You draw away from your partner.
This cycle can cause irreversible damage. Of course, you do not want to force intimacy, and true repentance and forgiveness should occur before you begin fixing your relationship. Still, it is important to note how important intimacy is within relationships after experiencing a traumatic experience.
Being sexually intimate with one another creates an incomparable. The oxytocin released during sex makes you feel good about your partner and the relationship you created together.
Scientifically, these hormones are responsible for building trust and emotional connections. They’re brought on by sexual and non-sexual touching. This building of trust between partners is what you will need to restore your connection.
Intimacy Doesn’t Happen Overnight
Betrayal hurts, words hurt, and being in love, well, sometimes that hurts too. But it will get better if you give it time. Repairing the bridge to intimacy with your partner doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been able to get there yet.
Continue communicating with your spouse and work on restoring your romantic relationship and emotional connection. Intimacy will soon follow.
Whether an argument or a hurtful life event, restoring bonds of intimacy can be difficult after a series of distressful conflicts have happened. In order to restore intimacy in your space with your partner, you need to take time for yourself, accept responsibility for your role in the conflict, and communicate regularly with one another.
About Sylvia
Sylvia Smith is a relationship expert with years of experience in training and helping couples. She has helped countless individuals and organizations around the world, offering effective and efficient solutions for healthy and successful relationships. Her mission is to provide inspiration, support and empowerment to everyone on their journey to a great marriage. She is a featured writer for Marriage.com, a reliable resource to support healthy happy marriages.
Photo by Felix Russell-Saw on Unsplash
