If you or your partner has violated the trust in your relationship, getting your relationship back on track can be difficult. Sometimes, when both parties are willing to work toward overcoming the trust issues, it is possible to heal a broken relationship. But other times, the damaged relationship may be beyond repair.
We’ll discuss the importance of establishing trust and how trust issues can negatively impact your relationship. We’ll also address some steps to consider when rebuilding trust with your partner and evaluating whether it’s worth putting in the effort.
Trust is an important element of any relationship. When you and your partner trust each other, you can let your guard down, feel comfortable showing your true colors without judgment, and depend on each other.
However, if that trust is broken, it can cause your relationship to crumble.
Trust is foundational to a healthy relationship because it can help establish emotional security, foster communication, and build mutual respect.
When a couple trusts each other, they are more likely to feel comfortable and secure in their relationship. This allows them to openly express their feelings, be vulnerable, and rely on each other.
Trust issues can negatively impact your relationship in various ways.
For starters, a lack of trust can cause you to put up walls and feel emotionally distant because you’re uncomfortable being vulnerable around each other. As a couple, you may struggle to connect and experience breakdowns in your communication, making it difficult to be compassionate and empathetic with each other. Without trust, you may both start developing feelings of jealousy, insecurity, and anxiety, which can lead to arguments and conflicts in your relationship and a loss of physical and emotional intimacy.
What causes trust issues in a relationship? Many factors can break trust in a relationship, including infidelity, dishonesty, and neglect.
If one of you has an emotional or physical connection with someone outside of your relationship, this kind of infidelity can significantly deteriorate your trust.
Betrayal is hurtful and can cause many emotions, from anger and sadness to jealousy and insecurity. If your partner has been unfaithful, it’s common to feel insecure, self-conscious, and inadequate, and you may find it difficult to believe them because cheating often comes with a slew of lies and deception.
When you’re experiencing lies and dishonesty in your relationship, that doesn’t leave much room for trust. After all, trust is built on truth and honesty.
If your partner is lying or deceiving you, believing anything they say is nearly impossible. You’ll find it difficult to establish any semblance of trust when you constantly question your partner or try to catch them in a lie.
There is more to trust than just being faithful and telling the truth. Truth also fosters a sense of reliability, dependency, and security. However, if you or your partner neglect each other’s emotional or physical needs, you may feel the trust begin to break.
For instance, if your partner’s going through a hard time and you ignore or disregard their feelings, they won’t feel comfortable coming to you for support. Or, if your partner ignores your requests for physical connections, you may feel insecure and begin to question your relationship.
Now, there are ways you can work toward rebuilding trust in your relationship if both partners are committed to the process.
The following advice can encourage your emotional recovery and help you regain trust in your relationship.
The first step toward overcoming trust issues involves practicing open and honest communication. This means creating a safe, non-judgmental environment where you feel comfortable and empowered to speak your truth.
To do so, focus on active listening, making eye contact, and allowing each other to open up. Avoid interrupting and making accusations, and practice putting yourself in each other’s position. How would you feel if you were them? And how would that make you act?
The more you feel comfortable discussing your relationship, the more you can work toward repairing damaged trust.
Taking responsibility is a big part of healing a broken relationship.
You and your partner must take ownership of how you’ve contributed to the trust issues in your relationship. Take time to reflect on your behavior, offer your sincere apologies, and discuss ways to prevent these events from happening again.
While forgiveness may not come all at once, acknowledging your actions and making better choices is the best way to regain trust and earn forgiveness. This requires consistent actions toward bettering yourself and the relationship, such as telling the truth, supporting each other, and being faithful.
Of course, this requires patience on both sides as you and your partner navigate this process toward rebuilding trust.
Even if you and your partner are committed to regaining the trust in your relationship, repairing damaged trust isn’t always possible. Unfortunately, sometimes, the breach of trust is too much for some couples to overcome.
So, how do you know when to try or when to walk away?
When it comes to relationship recovery, you both must be equally committed to the process. It won’t work if only one of you is willing to heal the relationship.
First, ask yourselves if you’re open to following the advice above, like prioritizing honest communication and taking responsibility for your actions. You must have uncomfortable conversations and be willing to prove that you can change for the better.
Next, consider whether you want to improve your relationship and whether it’s worth putting in the time and effort. Remember, overcoming trust issues doesn’t happen overnight, so you both must be open to working on your relationship for the long haul.
If you’re both willing to do what it takes to mend your broken relationship, it’s at least worth giving it another shot.
However, if it feels like only one of you is eager to try again or you’re forcing your partner to change, it might not be worth fighting for your relationship. This can’t be a one-sided effort, as it takes dedication from both parties.
Remember, you can’t foster a healthy relationship without mutual trust, no matter how much you love each other.
Whether you move forward together or apart, focusing on your emotional healing is crucial.
If you can restore the trust in your relationship, you and your partner must be equally committed to establishing healthy behaviors to maintain throughout your relationship.
This will involve always keeping that line of communication open and focusing on being honest with each other about your wants, needs, and concerns. Even if your relationship is on the road to recovery, consider meeting with a couples therapist for help rebuilding a stronger, healthier bond.
Sometimes, your relationship may be beyond repair. If you and your partner can’t repair the trust in your relationship, it’s time to accept that the relationship is over, find closure, and move on.
Every couple’s process of finding closure and moving on will be different. Some couples benefit from having one last heart-to-heart discussion or writing each other letters, while others do better by cutting off communication.
During this time, it’s important to focus on self-care and healthy habits, such as eating foods that nourish your body, exercising, relaxing, partaking in your favorite hobbies, and spending time with your loved ones. Treating yourself kindly will help heal your heart and prepare you for meeting a new partner when the time is right.
If you’ve struggled with trust issues in your relationships, it might be time to turn to our professional matchmakers here at Tawkify.
At Tawkify, our matchmakers hand-select candidates based on your unique dating preferences. We listen to your relationship goals (and struggles!), prioritize your needs, and scour our database of relationship-ready singles to find viable matches that align with your criteria. We understand the importance of finding a trustworthy, compatible partner and are committed to finding you your ideal match.
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