Does my partner love me?

Relationships take time, communication, work and often a willingness to compromise together. At some parts of the relationship both people may be on the same page and putting in the same amount of effort and at other parts life circumstances may cause barriers and distractions. It is important for couples to have open conversations about each other's feelings, values, time boundaries and where you see your future together. The only person that can tell you directly if your partner loves you is him. The other side of that is that only you can decide if you feel loved by him.

I can offer some insight into love languages that may help you with this question. In Gary Chapman's book The 5 Love Languages he indicates that the 5 love languages are: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Knowing both your love language and your partner's love language can help you both experience feeling loved within the relationship and express love in a way that the other person is most receptive. One of the benefits of being in-tune with each other's love language is you can devote your time and effort to the language that is most meaningful to the person, reinforcing that feeling of being loved.

Owning your own business is a large time commitment and he may not only feel physically exhausted but mentally exhausted as well which could be contributing to the changes in his behavior. Having a conversation with him about how you feel and changes that you have noticed in the relationship can open the line of communication about intimacy and building connection.

You can utilize interpersonal effectiveness skills to support the conversation and outcome. One example of these is the DEAR MAN template. The "D" stands for describing the situation using the facts and focusing on the priority issue. The "E" stands for expressing how this situation is affecting you personally and clearing labeling your feelings. The "A" stands for asserting the changes that you would like to see made in the future. The "R" stands for reinforcing the positives of if the changes took place. The "M" stands for staying mindful of the current situation at hand, one issue at a time. The 2nd "A" stands for appearing confident and being assertive. And the "N" stand for negotiating to remind us that compromise on our expectations may be necessary.  He may not be aware that you are questioning his love for you and having that convesation with him will give him insight and allow you to further discuss what changes could take place that would support you feeling more loved by him and confident in the relationship.