5 Ways to Regain Your Partners Trust
Trust is the presiding moral currency of any relationship. It also forms a direct link to our memories. Research has shown that with trust, our memories can view past transgressions of partners as less upsetting than they initially were. Alternately, when lacking trust, our memories of past deeds can be tainted even if the infractions themselves were minor.
Building trust takes time and effort. It’s not easy to do, otherwise everyone would automatically trust one another. It’s a pact made between two people that can be strengthened over time with love, compassion, and forgiveness. In fact, recent studies published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that a partner is much more likely to forgive their significant other for mistakes if their is trust between the two than if not.
But what happens if trust is broken? This may come as a shock, but broken trust is not irreparable and it happens more often than people think.
Here are 5 ways to regain your partners trust if it is ever broken:
• Be Honest – Avoid hiding secrets and even explore sharing passwords or having a joint account. Be as open as possible, within reason.
• Drop Your Guard – Putting up an emotional wall, being defensive, or acting self righteous must end when seeking forgiveness. Being vulnerable might open connections you never even thought existed.
• Talk Things Out – People are complicated. Open lines of communication on what went wrong and why are critical.
• Renew Your Vows – Whether married or not, it is important to sincerely revisit the promises you originally made with your partner to help regain trust.
• Exhibit Patience – It took time to originally build the trust so why assume it can be fixed immediately when broken? Trust in the relationship and give it the time it needs to heal.
Regaining trust isn’t done on a whim, it is a conscious effort that takes enormous resolve. Sometimes it takes change from one or both parties. Sometimes it means letting go of personal defenses and making yourself vulnerable. In the end, what is important is that trust remains the foundation of a strong and healthy relationship.
