Developing Emotional Safety In Relationships

Have you ever thought about your partner, 'Can I trust you?' Are there things you want to tell them but don't, because you're afraid of how they will react?

If something is holding you back from sharing your feelings with your spouse, or if you and your partner get defensive when negative emotions get brought up, then today's episode of Master Your Marriage is just for you.

Developing emotional safety requires trust and commitment. Trust is a precursor for commitment, creating a wonderful by-product that is emotional safety. In fact, research has proven that couples who display trust and show commitment to each other actually live longer (as much as ten years!).

Robert and Sharla, our paragons of relationship intimacy, are articulating the nuanced difference between trust and commitment, and showing how they work hand in hand to deepen our emotional safety.

Being emotionally available for your partner means tuning into what they're going through. This requires being comfortable with even their negative emotions so you can sense when something is off. So what does listening to your partner actually look like? How can you become less defensive in the moment?

The answers lie within, and of course, as we do the work, we become tolerant of other perspectives – even becoming more open to receiving influence from our spouse. There are some great 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' in this episode that address the skill of listening so that we may feel safe emotionally. Please join us!

"The underlying issue behind most conflict is, really, 'Can I trust you?' ~ Sharla Snow

"The secret to trust is attuning and listening to each other." ~ Robert Snow

In This Episode:

- How do we create emotional safety?

- What is the difference between trust and commitment?

- How trust and commitment have a soothing effect on people's emotions and fears

- How do we build trust?

- How do we become open to receiving influence from our spouse?

- Why it doesn't help to be dismissive of your partner's concerns

- Understanding the 'Commitment' mindset

- Looking at the counterpart of commitment: betrayal

- The link between conflict avoidance and infidelity