Restoring & Maintaining Intimacy in Marriage
Restoring & Maintaining Intimacy in Marriage Couples can return to the state of intimacy from conflict, if, and only if, they stop hurting each other and return to meeting each other's emotional needs again. What is intimacy? Intimacy is closeness to each other. In an intimate state, spouses communicate smoothly, rush to do whatever it takes to make each other happy, and avoid what might upset or annoy the other. Couples can achieve this state only through meeting each other's psychological, emotional and physical needs. Reviving and maintaining intimacy: Mainstream-counseling perspective From Dr. Harley's research and experience in trying to save marriages through counseling, he concluded that couples negotiate from one of three states of mind, each having its own unique negotiating rules and its own unique emotional reactions. He called these states of mind, 'intimacy', 'conflict' and 'withdrawal'. Couples can return to the st...