You know that maintaining intimacy is important for your relationship with your partner. But did you know that it’s also good for your health?

Psychologists and researchers have discovered a number of benefits for people who experience intimacy in their committed relationships. In fact, closeness in relationships has been found to influence social, emotional, and physical health.

People in intimate relationships…

* Are better at successful navigating various developmental stages
* Are more likely to maintain solid, lasting friendships
* Are less likely to be in car accidents
* Are more resistant to diseases and mental illness

On the other hand, individuals involved in committed relationships that lack intimacy and closeness are more vulnerable to a whole handful of ailments: stress, depression, psychosomatic disorders, and mental illness in general. (To read more about this research, see: “Marriage and Romantic Relationships: Defining Intimacy in Romantic Relationships,” by Barry F. Moss and Andrew I. Schwebel, in Family Relations, vol. 42, no. 1, January 1993, pp. 31-37.)

If you’re in a committed relationship, take the opportunity to work on intimacy with your partner today. Small gestures can go a long way toward creating a closer relationship. Not only will you be investing in the strength of your future relationship, you’ll be protecting your future health and happiness.

Shared Couple’s Trance, a hypnosis program developed by Dr. Michele Ritterman, is a fun and easy way to explore your relationship with your partner and build intimacy. Together, you can recreate positive feelings, while discovering your own sense of safety and closeness in the relationship.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Ritterman’s program.

© 2007 The Hypnosis Network. All rights reserved.

Perhaps there is hope for marriages where at least one partner is willing to exchange “I” for “we”.

UC Berkeley researchers analyzed conversations between 154 middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found that those who used pronouns such as “we,” “our” and “us” behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress. Couples who emphasized their “separateness” by using pronouns such as “I,” “me” and “you” were found to be less satisfied in their marriages. This was especially true for older couples.

“Individuality is a deeply ingrained value in American society, but, at least in the realm of marriage, being part of a ‘we’ is well worth giving up a bit of ‘me,’” said UC Berkeley psychology professor Robert Levenson, a co-author of the study published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

Previous studies have established that the use of “we-ness” or “separateness” language is a strong indicator of marital satisfaction in younger couples. These latest findings, however, take this several steps further by showing how powerful this correlation is in more established couples, linking it to the emotions and physiological responses that occur when spouses either team up or become polarized in the face of disagreements, researchers said.

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We respect and appreciate each other so much more now than at any previous time in our relationship.

My wife and I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary. We celebrated because our relationship feels deeper and more intimate th

an ever. We respect and appreciate each other so much more now than at any previous time in our relationship. We’re looking forward to many more years of sweetness and fulfillment.

In this article, Dr. Michele Ritterman offers some great information and advice for those seeking to enrich their intimate relationships.

A recent study revealed a few interesting new aspects about intimacy and marriage. A few of these developments have the potential to change the way marriage counselors – and involved spouses – think about marriages. Specifically, how to keep them strong and healthy!

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Imagine that someone behaves towards you in a way that you don’t like. You have a variety of approaches regarding how you respond.

One set of approaches deals with your own area of responsibility. You might ask yourself, “What is it about me that has allowed/permitted/drawn certain people to behave towards me in this way?”

The answers to this question may reveal one of two kinds of answers. The first is the opening of opportunity. Looking like a victim often attracts predators of some description.

Another answer or approach is more metaphysical. For example, say that someone is being very stubborn and not accepting your point. Some metaphysical schools of thought would have you examine yourself, to see if you do this kind of thing to others. Are you sometimes stubborn about some things? Do you sometimes refuse to see the points of some others?

A third approach is to look at the other person. Is this a typical pattern of behavior for them? Do they do this kind of thing often, with you and/or with other people? If this is the case, then you can take steps to remedy the situation.

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People gauge how responsive their partners are primarily by how they themselves respond to their partners-not the other way around, according to a series of Yale studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

“We have examined this in different ways,” said Margaret Clark, faculty author and psychology professor. “In studies of marriage we’ve found that what people report they do for their partners is a better predictor of what they think their spouse does for them than are the spouse’s own reports of what was done.”

“Most surprisingly,” she said, “when Edward Lemay, a senior Yale graduate student, brought people into the lab and asked leading questions to make them feel supportive or non-supportive of their partner, the first group reported that their partner is more supportive toward them than did the second group.”

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