Couple Survival Skills
1. Open Communication
Couples must talk effectively about themselves and their innermost feelings and each partner must encourage his/her mate to do the same.
2. Expression of Love and Caring
Couples must constantly enhance their ability to express love in order to prevent the slow deterioration of loving behaviour that often occurs over time.
3. Sex and Sensuality
Couples must constantly enhance their sexual relations to maintain a rich, intimate partnership.
4. Problem Solving
Couples must develop skills to solve the problems that inevitably arise in any intimate relationship.
5. Negotiating and Compromise
Couples must master the art of negotiating effective compromises when they have differences of opinion.
6. Fair Fighting
Couples must learn to fight fairly and, where possible, constructively. It is less dangerous to fight than not to fight.
7. Division of Work
Couples must decide what distribution of out-of-home and in-home work best fits their situation.
8. Sexual Openness and Independence
Couples must decide on the level of sexual commitment that best suits their needs; i.e. whether to be monogamous or to allow various degrees of sexual independence.
