Divorce Recovery & the 5 Steps to Your Next Long-Term Relationship: Step 4-A Committed Relationship
For a relationship to culminate in a successful long-term, committed union, a five-step relationship-building process must be acknowledged, understood, and traversed. The Five Required Steps to a Long-Term Relationship The path from initial introduction to a long-term committed relationship goes through five separate stages of relationship: (1) Step 1: The Transition Relationship, (2) Step 2: The Recreational Relationship, (3) Step 3: The Pre-Committed Relationship, (4) Step 4: The Committed Relationship, and (5) Step 5: The Marital Relationship. (For a discussion of recreational, pre-committed, and committed relationships, see David Steele, Conscious Dating , (Campbell, CA, RCN Press, 2008)). This article addresses the fourth step in the relationship-building process, Step 4: The Committed Relationship. The Committed Relationship Is the Time for Both Partners to Pull Together The previously completed recreational and pre-committed stages targeted the individual’s chemistry and ...