Maintaining closeness in long-term relationships is one of the main tasks for couples striving to preserve warmth and mutual understanding. Family psychologists share practices that help strengthen emotional connection, develop trust, and revive the sense of partnership.
According to family and child-parent psychologist Yulia Krivitskaya, even in stable couples, alienation can sometimes arise: partners get used to the roles of "husband/wife" or "parent" and forget to see each other as a beloved person. To restore closeness, experts suggest a number of practices aimed at emotional and physical connection.
One such practice is recalling the first moments of falling in love: partners share with each other about the beginning of their relationship, focusing on emotions and details, without distractions and comments. This helps to regain a sense of interest and live contact.
Active listening is another tool: by asking deep questions about dreams, fears, and desires, couples can uncover new facets of each other's inner world. Such dialogue is built without judgments and advice, only with attention and acceptance.
In addition to verbal communication, experts emphasize the importance of physical attention. This does not necessarily mean sexual contact, but rather calm hugs, caresses, and holding hands, which restore the sense of presence and support emotional closeness.
The practice of acknowledging vulnerability invites partners to share their weaknesses, fears, or doubts without discussion and consolation from the other side. Often, the very feeling of being heard without judgment strengthens trust in the couple.
Joint daily rituals, whether regular walks, cooking breakfast together, or scheduled meetings instead of everyday routine, also help to strengthen the sense of duality and teamwork.
Equally important are shared memories of joys and difficulties experienced together: returning to the past as a journey that the couple has gone through together creates a sense of the strength of the union.
Relationship experts also advise couples to agree on rules for constructive conflict resolution to avoid escalations and strengthen mutual respect, as well as to include moments of light flirting and playfulness in everyday life, which restore the sense of attraction to each other.
Modern research in psychology emphasizes: regular open communication, quality time together, expressing gratitude, and participating in joint rituals and activities contribute to strengthening emotional and physical closeness in couples.
...Maintaining closeness is not only about romance but also about conscious work on relationships. Simple yet regular practices—from sincere communication to joint rituals—help couples deepen their connection, strengthen trust, and maintain emotional closeness over time.
