Sexual Communication Ground Rules
Establishing Rules of Communication for Talking about Sex with a Partner
Whenever we bring up a new sexual conversation with a partner, we are exposing a part of ourselves. Even with long-term partners this can feel so risky that we avoid it altogether. But keeping lines of communication open is essential to keeping a long-term sexual relationship alive. One way to make these conversations feel safer is by establishing ground rules for sexual communication.
Here is a list of sexual communication ground rules. If you’re looking for a way to start a new (and uncomfortable) conversation one way to start is by sharing this list with your partner, and developing your own set of rules. You can pick and choose from these ideas, or use them as a launch pad to develop whatever rules feel right for everyone involved.
Time to Check In and Check Out
If you start a conversation when you’re exhausted or angry about something else that happened that day, you’ll bring those things into the conversation with you. One way to deal with this inevitability is to "check in" at the beginning of the conversation; spend a minute sharing something about your day and how you're feeling so you know what you're each coming to the conversation with. Do the same at the end of the conversation to say how you felt it went (but don’t use that as a way to keep the conversation going after you’ve agree to end it). It's a nice idea to end each conversation sharing at least one positive thing that came out of it. Define Safety for Yourselves and to Each Other
By MrsQG4EVA