Revitalize Your Relationship: The 10 Best Places For Relationship Advice
Finding a healthy and happy relationship where you feel loved is something that can bring happiness and joy into a person’s life. However, once you're in a committed relationship, it can take some effort to find relationship advice that feels relevant to your interests and makes your relationship stronger.
While no website is a replacement for professional therapy to talk openly about your relationship, the following are some of the best places for quality advice for healthy romantic relationships. If you want additional support, there’s nothing wrong with holding hands and seeing a couples or family therapist together.
The ten best online resources for tips on love and romantic relationships and healthy relationship tips
Successful couples know that a partnership requires work if it is to last for a long period of time. Each relationship is different, and the best relationship advice is tailored to individual relationships. Repairing or improving a relationship can take time and effort, but try not to be afraid; it is totally worth it. A strong relationship is one where you feel happy and fulfilled. It doesn’t matter if you're in a long-term partnership or pursuing a new connection; these ten resources may offer relationship tips, validation, and strategies to help you improve your love life or sex life, support your mental health, learn how to fight fair, and build a good bond in the future.
1. The Gottman Institute
Recent blog posts include conversations about setting realistic expectations in love, lessons learned from parenthood, and other topics and milestones that couples may experience. The Gottman Institute also offers several relationship quizzes to assess your strengths and identify growth areas in your life.
2. National Domestic Violence Hotline
In addition to its national hotline and live chat system, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (also called "The Hotline") offers several resources to help people learn more about power and control in abusive relationships.
Whether you're healing from an abusive relationship, attempting to support a loved one, or looking to learn more about domestic violence, you may benefit from the Hotline's coverage of the following topics:
- The meaning of consent
- How to define a healthy relationship using the spectrum
- Dynamics of abuse in immigrant communities and LGBTQ+ relationships
Given the widespread nature of abuse, the Hotline's coverage isn't limited to these subjects. Visit their website for information on other specialized topics, including how to create a safety plan and find local resources tailored to what your relationship requires.
3. Relish
Relish is an online app designed to revitalize partnerships and keep love alive for the long haul. By taking a short online quiz, you'll receive a personalized plan to strengthen your romantic connection. Depending on the suggestions from your coach, you may work on improving communication, creating good communication skills, spending more quality time together, and clearly articulating your goals.
Relish also features an extensive group of articles for people in partnerships. Learn more about sex, physical intimacy, Valentine's Day gifts, self-love, ideas for date nights, and other information to enhance your love life and mental health.
4. Where Should We Begin? With Esther Perel
If you're trying to diversify your sources of information, you might benefit from a podcast. One of the top podcasts for most people interested in love is Where Should We Begin, hosted by renowned therapist Esther Perel. During each episode, she counsels real couples as they explore their most intimate and complicated details.
In the moment of these couple’s stories presented on the podcast, you may hear your own challenges reflected. Every episode presents an opportunity to slow down, reflect, and practice empathy for yourself and other important people in your life. Esther also maintains a blog where she writes articles about love, hope, sex, and other relevant issues in the dating world.
5. Love Is Respect: Dating 101
Love Is Respect is a national organization built to disrupt and prevent unhealthy partnerships and intimate partner violence, especially among young people. One of their projects is Dating 101: an online resource for modern daters. People searching for their next partner may appreciate Dating 101's inclusive approach to dating, which they define as two or more people in an intimate partnership.
The writers at Dating 101 recognize that dating means different things to different people, and they use gender-neutral language when talking about partnerships that can apply to most readers' situations. Their blog includes a thorough review of the dating basics, as well as less common questions about dating and a quiz to assess your qualities as a partner.
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6. One Love
Although love might be one of the essential aspects of many people's lives, not everyone is taught how to find and maintain healthy, loving partnerships. For many, the only tips that they get on how to maintain a loving bond is, “Never go to bed angry.” In response, One Love seeks to educate their readers on all of the big and little things related to love and the huge role that love plays in our lives. Their online resources cover crucial information about boundaries, breakups, safety planning, signs of an unhealthy partnership, and other tips.
While OneLove helps daters of all backgrounds, they're especially interested in helping young people and partners work to navigate the complexities of dating in the digital age. The organization believes that love is learned and that healthier relationships begin with educating the youngest generations about how to care for themselves, their partners, friends, and lovers. For One Love, this process inevitably leads to healthier partnerships later in life.
7. HelpGuide
HelpGuide is an independent nonprofit and one of the world's leading mental health resources. They provide numerous online resources, including meditations, information about various mental health conditions, and tips for people in partnerships.
Depending on your status and goals, you may enjoy HelpGuide's library of articles about love and friendship, including tips for making friends and dating to find the right person. Their articles also cover topics related to communication, conflict, domestic abuse, and emotional intelligence, which can impact the quality of all kinds of relationships: romantic, platonic, intimate, casual, and the rest in between.
8. Mental Health Foundation
The Mental Health Foundation is based in the UK. Still, their online resources can benefit anyone in the world who's interested in learning small stuff or big stuff about healthy commitment and how it affects mental health and well-being. By improving your mental health, you have a higher chance of having a healthy relationship, and having a healthy relationship can also help you improve your mental health.
The Foundation provides tips on developing core values for healthy partnerships with yourself and your peers, designed for children, adolescents, and young adults. You can also listen to their Let's Talk Mental Health podcast, which explores friendship's meaning and health benefits. Adults and mental health professionals may also be interested in the Foundation's statistics on partnerships and community, which can predict physical health, longevity, and overall happiness.
Regain is an online therapy platform explicitly designed for people in love. The platform's licensed therapists offer individual and couples therapy, depending on your preferences and goals.
The Regain advice blog features numerous articles with professionally vetted information. Their writers cover more general topics, like how to pursue a career in counseling and addressing issues related to couples and dating. Regain therapists recognize that the world of modern dating is often confusing, and it's not always clear how a partnership is "supposed" to develop, they can help to give you and your partner an idea about how to move forward.
Often, there's no standard timeline or perfect image of love. With this understanding, Regain is committed to making conversations about love more available, with articles that cover popular topics and ones that may feel uncomfortable in a daily conversation.
10. BetterHelp
BetterHelp maintains a blog of research-based strategies for people in relationships, reviewed by licensed mental health care professionals. The articles explore various topics, ranging from couples therapy podcasts to the importance of communication between romantic partners.
As an online therapy platform, BetterHelp's articles often provide recommendations related to marriage counseling, couples therapy, and other therapies for people in partnerships. If you're considering any of these interventions to enhance your bond, BetterHelp is an established resource. BetterHelp also offers online counseling services where you can connect with a clinical psychologist about concerns regarding your relationship or any other issue a therapist could assist with.
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Counseling options
It is important to understand that your partner is not a mind reader and may not realize or understand your feelings. Your concerns may be better explored with a professional. If you're considering therapy to make your relationship strong, professional support is an option for everyone, even if you find it challenging to identify your "why" for therapy. Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations for your partner, the connection between you and your partner feels disjointed, you hide things from your partner, or you're still processing the impact of a breakup or another past partnership. Whatever your reasoning, professional therapy can help you grow as an individual and a romantic partner.
Online therapy is an increasingly popular option for many couples who struggle to find the time to attend in-person sessions together. Through an online therapy platform like BetterHelp for individuals or Regain for couples, clients can learn to communicate healthily with their partners and receive guidance with various challenges.
Some people may prefer in-person therapy to address their concerns, but research suggests that online therapy can be an equally effective treatment for those interested in digital options. One 2019 study found that within three months of starting online therapy, 37.8% of patients experienced clinically significant improvement in their depressive symptoms. Based on the participants' self-reports, the researchers concluded that internet-based therapy is equally effective across gender, financial status, and physical health, especially for people without in-person therapy options. Online therapy may also appeal to more couples long-distance and help them feel more open, uninhibited, and willing to discuss intimate concerns.
“Stephanie is a gem! She’s very thoughtful, thorough, honest, insightful, but, most of all, helpful. This is coming from a person who never wanted to do counseling and just “knew” I didn’t need it. She’s been key in helping my wife and I find our better place. She made us grow as a couple and individually. Thanks, Steph!”
“A year ago, I was experiencing difficulties in my relationship, which highly affected my psychological state and interfered with my work. At one point, I decided to try BetterHelp.com. My counselor Dr. Brewer helped me to see some things I couldn’t on my own and encouraged me to prioritize myself. It was a huge help for me at that point, which led to the decisions I am happy about.”
Takeaway
Dating can require an investment of time, energy, and patience, and no two relationships work the same way. However, with these ten online resources, you can begin the lifelong work of becoming a better partner and best friend.
Every relationship has its ups and downs, but if you are asking, “Do most relationships have these problems, or is it just us?” it may be time to consider finding outside support from a therapist. A licensed therapist can offer an unbiased, professional perspective throughout your journey. With the guidance of your therapist and the support of loved ones, you can focus on your unique strengths, identify areas for growth, and keep your health and safety as you build new connections.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Below are a couple of the most frequently asked questions on the topic of relationship advice.
What are the best tips for couples?
For many, the best relationship advice deals with communication. There can be a significant difference between couples who communicate openly and honestly and those who hide topics or fail to express their thoughts and feelings and expect their relationship to remain healthy. For many, learning about attachment and communication styles can remedy these challenges.
Another piece of advice is not to expect your partner to fulfill all your needs if you haven't communicated those needs to your partner clearly in words. Expectations can be challenging to support. A therapist may be able to help couples outline their needs healthily.
What are the five most crucial aspects of a marriage?
Although the five most crucial aspects of a relationship can be subjective, below are five common staples:
- Open communication
- Active listening
- Healthy conflict resolution
- Mutual intimacy
- Trust
What are some couples questions?
What is the best advice to give someone in a relationship?
What questions should I ask to build a relationship?
What 3 things make relationships better?
When should you seek relationship advice?
Can relationship advice help save a troubled relationship?
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