A healthy relationship is one in which both partners feel confident enough, to be honest about their needs. We all have needs, and we’re entitled to look for romantic relationships in which we can meet them.
Healthy relationships involve partners who mutually meet each other’s needs rather than a one-sided relationship in which one partner’s needs are met but the other’s ignored.
The ability to be open and honest about your needs in a relationship is what will help you keep that relationship healthy.
Connection, authenticity, and vulnerability are vital elements of a healthy romantic relationship. If we can’t express honestly and authentically what we need from our partner, then we probably won’t feel connected, authentic, and vulnerable.
In this article, we’ll cover a list of needs in a relationship, why they’re so important and how we can express them to our partners.
List of needs in a relationship
Needs in a relationship can be both emotional and physical.
Physical needs typically center around physical presence and affectionate touch, but these are not always separate from emotional needs.
A physical connection often requires a complementary emotional connection for a relationship to thrive.
What are emotional needs?
Common emotional (including physical) needs in relationships include:
- Quality time
- Trust
- Security
- Personal space
- Emotional intimacy
- Physical intimacy
- Acceptance
- Acknowledgment and validation
1. Quality time
Quality time is time spent giving full attention to your partner and receiving that same quality of time and attention in return.
This need centers around togetherness and bonding. It is usually found in abundance at the beginning of a relationship but is subject to dwindling over time.
Long-term partners can help maintain the quality of their relationship by cultivating time spent together mindfully and intentionally, without distraction, and with the intent to connect.
Eye contact, active listening, and loving presence are crucial elements of quality time.
Quality time is also an essential factor in healthy communication.
Time spent together being present without distraction encourages partners to be honest and authentic about their feelings, encouraging honesty and transparency in the relationship.
2. Trust
Trust is one of the most basic needs in any relationship.
At the very least, partners should be able to trust that the other will demonstrate basic trusting behaviors and attitudes toward them. These include honesty, open and authentic communication, vulnerability, and mutual respect.
3. Security
A sense of security is a fundamental relationship need because there’s not much point in having a relationship without it.
Security is the feeling that your partner is there for you, that they love you and want to be with you. It means trusting that your partner will support you during times of stress or when facing a challenge (reasonably and to the best of their ability).
How security benefits relationships
When both partners feel secure in their relationship, they can discuss their thoughts, feelings, fears, and desires with transparency and vulnerability. They don’t need to worry about being ‘too much’ for their partner.
There is also a need to be reasonable and respect your partner’s emotional capacity. Security is knowing your partner will be sensitive and attuned to you and your needs.
4. Personal space
Personal space is just as much a part of healthy relationships as quality time spent together.
Partners who love and care for each other don’t need to prove that love and care by spending every second together. Instead, both partners need as much personal space as they need.
The importance of personal space
Personal space allows us to maintain our connection with ourselves, which in turn improves the quality of all of our relationships.
If one partner feels as though they are not getting personal space in their relationship, the quality of that relationship will suffer.
Lack of sufficient personal space often leads to resentment, negative emotions toward one’s partner, and other factors jeopardizing the relationship.
5. Emotional intimacy
Every healthy romantic relationship requires a solid emotional connection. We form and maintain this emotional connection by expressing our authentic feelings and sharing our vulnerabilities with our partners.
Sharing the deeper aspects of ourselves with a loving, trusting, and open partner can feel incredibly rewarding and is one of the main reasons we enter and stay in relationships.
When emotional intimacy lacks…
Many relationships deteriorate when they lack emotional intimacy. Emotional intimacy fosters love, trust, safety, and emotional support, so when it is lacking, these other relationships’ characters also fade.
6. Physical intimacy
Physical intimacy is a crucial ingredient in healthy romantic relationships.
Physical intimacy is not the same as sexual intimacy, though sex is a type of physical affection. Sex is essential for relationships, but the quality and frequency of sex are unique to each couple/relationship.
Physical intimacy includes loving and affectionate touch and is supported by emotional intimacy and attentive presence.
Touching, caressing, hugging, holding, and sexual intimacy are all types of physical intimacy that help partners feel loved and cared for.
7. Acceptance
We all want to feel accepted, especially by our intimate partners.
To feel accepted means that you feel that your partner accepts all of your sides – not just the positive, happy, and successful parts of you but also your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
When you feel accepted, you feel you belong in your partner’s life.
The true meaning of acceptance
Partners will naturally have some differences of opinion, preference, and worldview, but these differences do not mean that partners don’t belong together.
Acceptance means understanding that your partner has their own life. Even though you may have differences, you both still deserve love, affection, and complete acceptance.
8. Acknowledgment and validation
In a healthy relationship, partners can independently acknowledge and validate their feelings but support each other in doing so.
Acknowledgment and validation are essential in a relationship because one or both partners may feel lonely, unheard, invisible, or uncared for without them.
To acknowledge and validate your partner’s emotions and experiences is a type of emotional intimacy that sets you up for a successful relationship.
Why is it important to identify your relationship needs?
Investigating and expressing your needs shows emotional maturity and good mental health. A lack of awareness around your needs or resistance to expressing them tends to strain relationships with your partner and your relationship with yourself.
So, even though it may feel daunting or emotionally challenging to identify and express your relationship needs, doing so is important for your overall well-being.
How to identify your relationship needs
Relationship needs can differ from person to person. We all share some basic needs, but we may prioritize those needs in different ways. For example, personal space is a valid need, but one partner may need more than another.
Equally, physical touch is essential but may take higher priority than other needs for some people. Identifying and expressing your needs healthily to your partner will help you feel confident in your relationship, improving your relationship satisfaction.
1. Accept that you have needs
The first step toward recognizing your needs is to let go of any stigma you may feel around having them. It’s completely normal and healthy to have needs in a relationship, so know that having them doesn’t make you weak or ‘needy.’
Your needs are how you secure your well-being, so don’t neglect them.
2. Be curious
Next, ask yourself what you need to feel safe and loved in a relationship. Don’t judge yourself for your answers; try to be as honest with yourself as possible.
Do you need extra personal space? Do you need affectionate touch? Do you need to be listened to with loving attention? When and how much do you need these things?
Do you feel that your needs are being met? Are some needs more important to you than others? Which needs are the most important to you? (This answer can change over time!)
3. Write about your needs
It may help to journal or log your needs and look at them objectively.
While your needs are valid, it’s wise to consider if they are something reasonable that you can expect from your partner or if a particular need is your responsibility to meet.
Conclusion
Now that you know your needs, it’s important to communicate them openly and honestly with your partner.
If you don’t express your needs honestly, how can you and your partner work together to meet them?
In addition, if you want your needs met in your relationship, are you willing to meet those of your partner? Your partner may not be able to meet all of your needs all of the time.
Still, with communication and healthy collaboration, you can both find an effective solution to healthily meet both of your needs and keep the relationship strong.
You’re also preventing yourself from being free to meet other people with whom you can foster a healthy relationship.
