7 Stages of a Relationship Every Couple Pass Through

Every relationship has different stages. These stages of a Relationship varies depending on the type of relationship you’re into.

For instance, the first stage of every Relationship starts with infatuation. A time when you feel like you’ve found your perfect match- your soulmate.

Then the final level of a Relationship is termed “the golden years”. Although not everyone is lucky enough to get to this level.

Follow me quickly to the 7 Stages of a Relationship you really need to know about.

7 Stages of a Relationship

1. Infatuation Stage:

As I have stated above that the first stage of every relationship is the infatuation stage.

Relationships start with attraction, whether it be physical, psychological, or both.

It may just be an infatuation of a short-term duration when you don’t really know the person, but admire something about them to such a great extent that you can’t wait to be in contact with them again.

In this level of a Relationship, things tends to move quickly. It is often referred to as ‘Love at first sight’.

One thing about this first stage of a relationship is that ‘it makes you think or feel like you have fallen in love or have found the love of your life’.

Phases of a Relationship

2. Discovery Stage:

The discovering stage is another phase of a Relationship.

In this level, you’re seriously working on discovering whom your partner is. Their friends, his/her parents and siblings, their hobbies and things they dislike in people.

The beginning part of this stage may overlap with the infatuation stage but, as you get to know more about the person, the physical symptoms of infatuation will subside.

Psychologist, Nikki Martinez, believes that this is the time couples should confess the deal-breakers. Those things that are just not acceptable to one partner or the other.

For instance, if one absolutely wants children and a family life but the other partner does not, that would be a deal-breaker.

Revealing deal-breakers can allow the candidness needed to move to the next level. Knowing both people are on the same page when it comes to very important issues.

It’s also, of course, the way to know that a relationship will work or not. For instance, dating and doing things together (things you mutually enjoy) will reveal many more aspects of your partner’s personalities.

Stages of a Relationship dating

3. Intimacy Stage:

This phase of relationship dating involves deep or deeper connection. That is to say, it is a stage you become very close to your partner.

Intimacy is not just the physical act of love-making only, but a total disclosure of who your partner is.

It is at this critical stage that you will learn how each will complement the other’s life, including personal goals and professional success.

Mental Help stated that ” There is no need to rush through this important stage and every reason to go slowly”.

Therefore, when you find yourself in this stage, take it easily. Don’t rush things.

4. Meeting your Partner’s Inner Circle:

Now that the bond between the two of you has been established, it’s time to meet and know each other’s family members.

Meeting your partner’s parents is the most crucial aspect of this stage.

Realize though, that if meeting your partner’s parents were something he or she did not want you to do, this would be much worse than any anxiety you may have.

Levels of a Relationship

5. Disillusionment Stage:

The word ‘disillusionment means ” a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be”.

By this time in the relationship, reality has not only made its presence, but its home in the midst of your relationship.

There are most likely no longer even remnants of the infatuation stage.

This is the period when disappointment and disillusionment will make its debut. There is nothing you can do to prevent its introduction into your relationship.

Nevertheless, there are things you can do to handle it well and make it a growing experience that will bond the relationship further.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy suggests that the way you look at this stage can be helpful in overcoming the obstacles.

They see it as an opposite to the infatuation stage whereby your partner’s faults in the first stage are minimized but maximized in this stage.

Neither of these is a realistic way to see the other person.

So the key to overcoming the hurdles of this stage is for each person to examine his or her own expectations and temper extremes in value judgments, with rational and reasonable expectations.

Relationship Phases

6. Lifetime Commitment Stage:

If you’ve gotten this far in your relationship, the time has come for that long-term commitment, marriage.

You know each other well, your bond and love for each other is strong, and you want this relationship to endure for the rest of your lives. It’s a big step, but if you’ve paid attention to the advice in the previous stages and have successfully gotten through the hurdles, you won’t be experiencing the doubts that are outlined here. You are ready, and you are on your way to a new adventure together.

This sixth stage of a Relationship is the commitment stage which is the marriage phase.

7. The Golden Years:

Though not everyone is lucky enough to reach this stage in the relationship, it cannot be left out for those who do.

This poll indicates that 40% of men and women from 65 to 80 years of age are still experiencing the closest form of physical intimacy.

There is now the shared satisfaction that love has conquered loss, disillusionment, family squabbles, and a host of other of life’s intrusions on happiness.

It is a stage of compassion, empathy, and encouragement to one another, cherishing every moment that is left.

What do you have to say? Drop your opinion or comment in the comment box below.