The Five Love Languages

The five love languages have been around for a long time and has not lost any of its buzz! Originally published in 1992 by Gary Chapman, the 5 Love Languages refers to the different categories of ways that people show and subsequently receive love.

When Dr. Chapman was developing this, it was born out of couples coming into therapy and expressing either that they do not feel loved or that they do not know what else they can possibly do to make their feel the love that they are trying to show. All of us who have sat on the other side of distressed couples can relate to this experience of hearing couples whose thoughts/feelings/behaviors just seem to be lost in translation.

Now, just because your love language does not match your partner’s does not mean that you’re not meant to be together, or that you’re in some way a bad couple or a bad match. Quite the contrary, in fact, most couples do not match when it comes to their love languages and find that they have to work hard to make sure that they learn their partner’s language and can speak to them in their language.

Because this is such a prevalent issue among couples, even couples who aren’t necessarily in distress, we’re embarking on a six week (including this one!) series on the five love languages, how they present and how using this information can work to improve the way that you’re communicating with your partner, friends, and family.

What are the five love languages?

The ways that people show and receive love are broken into five categories. These are:

·        Words of Affirmation

·        Acts of Service

·        Receiving Gifts

·        Quality Time

·        Physical Touch

Throughout the next few weeks we will be delving into each of these and providing an in-depth look at what they mean, how they are expressed, how they, as bids for connection, may be missed, and how to merge your language with your partner’s. Afterall, when we’re able to understand the language we’re each speaking fewer things are lost and our opportunities for intimacy grow.

If you feel like you and your partner have just not been clicking lately and feel like you need more than some education on love languages, give me a call or click the button below and let’s see if we can work together to get you guys back on the same page!