4 Ways to Provide Emotional Support in a Long Distance Relationship

When you are in a long distance relationship, you can feel at times that you are strained to your limit, and so can your partner. When you are part of a long distance relationship you must prioritize your partner as much as you prioritize yourself, because if you do not, you are setting yourself up for problems further down the line. Now, when it comes to providing support, you want to focus on providing emotional support, but what does this look like, and how can you guarantee this in your relationship?

Focus on Great Communication

Great communication will be at the core of any long distance relationship. If clear and effective communication is not there, then what have you got to build on, and how can you share your feelings, worries, and emotions? When you have great communication in your relationship, you can be honest with each other, and you can communicate how you are feeling, or what you are experiencing. For instance, there will be times when you feel sad and lonely, and this will need to be spoken about. Similarly, there will be times when your partner feels they need extra reassurance, and again, this will need to be communicated and spoken about. Communication can help you and your partner work through anything – even over long distances.

Identify Where Problems or Issues Exist

To give support to your partner, you need to know where any problems or issues exist. You cannot move forwards without knowing what must be worked upon (and focused on). For instance, if you are dating someone with anxiety, then you need to know what emotional support they need, and what they would like. If you are not establishing where potential problems lie or exist, then smaller problems will certainly escalate in the future – especially in long-distance relationships. Tailoring your support and your efforts is a must, and to do this, you need to find out any triggers, any issues, or even any areas of concern.

Openness and Honesty are Crucial

Emotional support goes deeper than words, and sometimes actions can count for much more than you think. Encouraging openness and honesty in a long-distance relationship is essential. You will both have times when you are doubting each other, or the relationship, and this is when openness and honesty count the most. The emotional support that is offered and given about areas of concern and worry, such as mistrust or infidelity, will be valuable to the strength and security of any relationship, so do not overlook these key areas.

Manage Expectations and Set Rules

Expectations and rules are crucial in a long-term relationship, and so too are boundaries. Providing emotional support in all areas that need to be discussed and focused on. For example, you can give reassurance via emotional support that your long-distance relationship will not be long-distance forever, and you could even go so far as to set a date for when you will be together and be reunited. Emotional support can take many guises, and you should see that physical support and reassurance are closely linked too.