Healthy relationships are built on trust, equality, mutual respect, openness, honesty, and affection.
When we’re teenagers, it’s normal to start wanting to date and have closer relationships with people we like. It’s a natural part of getting older. Relationships at this stage are often based on attraction, shared interests, intimacy and commitment. The feelings we have can be intense. It’s an exciting time, but it can also be challenging.
It can be tough to know what a healthy relationship looks like, especially when there’s pressure to be intimate or sexual. It’s important to remember that they should be built on trust, equality, mutual respect, openness, honesty, and affection. Fear has no place in a healthy relationship.
Setting and maintaining boundaries can also be difficult. It’s a learning process, and there’s a lot to consider. You can take our quiz to see if you are in a healthy relationship.
Here’s what the SAY group think are important for a healthy relationship:
How do you know if a relationship is healthy?
A healthy relationship is where both people feel good about the relationship. It may have ups and downs as these happen even in a healthy relationship, but things are good the majority of the time and both people feel valued, respected and happy.
If we are in a healthy relationship, we feel:
- safe around the other person
- our feelings, beliefs and boundaries are respected
- supported through ups and downs
- encouraged in our decisions, including education and career decisions
- good about ourselves.
Our top tips for healthy relationships
- Respect each other’s boundaries – stay close but respect each other’s independence.
- Don’t forget about friends – these will always be an important part of our support network. Value them and invest in them.
- Show love and affection to each other – take time to nurture this.
- Show empathy and understanding – try to see things from the other person’s perspective, including the challenges they might face in their lives.
- Resolve issues together – all relationships have ups and downs, talk through these together and come to a mutual understanding.
- Help each other and support each other – life can be stressful at times and we all need a rock to steady us, be each other’s rock in times of stress.
- Respect the decisions each person makes – life is full of important decisions. Support each other to make these based upon what is right for that person.
- Come together as a whole when you need to – remember you are a team!
- Listen to each other – communication is so important, and we should feel able to speak our minds freely without fear.
- Trust each other – trust is the cornerstone of healthy relationships. We should feel we can trust the other person and know they are just as committed to a healthy relationship as we are.
