What does a healthy relationship look like?

A healthy relationship is based on equality instead of control. A healthy relationship doesn’t include any abuse. The partners in a healthy relationship do get mad at each other and they do have problems, but they deal with all of that in a healthy way.

Both partners treat each other with RESPECT. This means that they don’t hurt each other on purpose. They COMMUNICATE with each other about problems they may be having, things they are doing and want to do, they check in with each other if something seems wrong, they ask each other about how the other is feeling, and they talk about how they themselves are feeling. When they do talk about their feelings they SUPPORT each other. This means not making the other person feel stupid or weak for having feelings. They are RESPONSIBLE towards each other. Which means they admit when they do something wrong or something that hurts the other partner. It also means they try to change something if it is causing problems in the relationship. Both partners in a healthy relationship have OUTSIDE INTERESTS. This means that even though they may want to spend a lot of time together they still keep their friends and the hobbies they liked before they got together.

The partners in a healthy relationship are not scared of each other. They also don’t say or do things that hurt the other person. They may still have feelings of jealousy or anger but they talk about them, and they don’t try to make their partner suffer because of it.