Understanding the 5 Stages of Love can be invaluable in improving any relationship. While every relationship varies, most serious ones typically go through six distinct phases – euphoric stage, early attachment stage, crisis, disillusionment stage, decision stage, and finally wholehearted love stage.
Accelerating this process may involve practicing healthy communication, honesty, vulnerability, and a strong commitment to your relationship.
Stage 1: Falling in love
This initial stage involves intense physical attraction and an emotional and sexual desire, and can result in the release of hormones and neurotransmitters that produce an “honeymoon phase.” Couples in this stage tend to feel incredible happiness between each other and typically spend most of their time together.
At this stage, couples begin to establish trust and security with one another while becoming curious about each other as individuals. At times, couples may take more risks by dating friends of friends or attempting blind dates – all to see if their compatibility as couples remains.
Once a couple has successfully navigated this stage, they’ll advance to the next one and start enjoying each other even more. Planning trips, activities, and special events together becomes much easier; traditions can also be created together and an identity formed.
Sasha Jackson, a licensed therapist, suggests that this stage is when couples start discussing their future together. From wedding plans to life goals together, this stage allows partners to begin thinking more carefully about their life together.
Make or Break for Many Relationships This stage marks a critical turning point for many relationships. Couples that reach this stage demonstrate they’re ready for commitment and long-term commitment with their partner, knowing they have each other’s back through any crisis that arises and are willing to face life’s transitions together.
Stage 2: Becoming a couple
The second stage of love is becoming a couple. At this stage, relationships become serious and begin to feel like real commitments; during this phase, issues become more complicated as each partner learns how to manage differences and reach a compromise on issues important to both.
At this stage, a couple must establish trust and loyalty by developing deeper connections between themselves. Both partners need to learn to appreciate one another’s differences as important components of their whole.
Many couples find it challenging to move from the initial excitement stage into becoming an official couple, as they tend to view their partner as an idealized version of themselves and struggle to accept his or her flaws. This can lead to feelings of disillusionment which can be avoided by being open and honest about issues in their relationship.
Couples that can successfully move into the fourth stage of love – Wholehearted Love – tend to enjoy long-term stability in their relationship. This stage requires two wholehearted people who share qualities like generosity, humor, flexibility, resilience, good boundaries, self-care, and purposefulness to sustain. Nourishing this stage requires constant communication and effort – which should ultimately result in long-term stability for any couple looking for stability in their love relationship. Most couples strive for this stage.
Stage 3: Disillusionment
Stage 3 can be the most trying of the stages because it marks the end of the honeymoon phase and when reality sets in. Couples become aware of each other’s flaws and may decide to part ways, but if they can discuss their issues and find solutions together they can move on to Stage 4.
At this stage, couples tend to become frustrated with each other as the relationship progresses further and deeper. At times they may even begin questioning whether marrying their partner was the right decision, fighting constantly or looking for excuses to escape problems; becoming annoyed with the annoying habits of their partners or their different values and dreams becoming an ongoing source of irritation for both.
At this stage, couples must confront their problems and make sacrifices together to survive the difficulties that lie ahead. Accept each other’s weaknesses and flaws while acknowledging your strengths and talents individually – but those who make it through often find that love has returned deeper and longer-lasting than it had ever been before! Those who successfully navigated through it reported falling deeper and longer-lasting than before!
At this stage, couples learn how to communicate more effectively and take better care of their emotional well-being. Additionally, they develop more patience toward one another, learn conflict resolution techniques that work effectively, forgive each other for past misdeeds, and begin understanding how childhood experiences shape how they view intimate relationships.
Stage 4: Creating lasting love
At this stage, couples find common ground and start to feel secure within their relationship. At the same time, this stage allows couples to consider and plan for the future of their partnership.
However, this can be a challenging stage and doubts may arise. To successfully navigate this stage together and deal with issues together, open communication is key, and practicing good communication skills as well as speaking to a counselor are effective solutions.
At this critical juncture in your relationship, you may become increasingly aware of your partner’s weaknesses and flaws, which could include traits that initially were only mildly bothersome to you. Your bond could even break apart at this stage; those who manage to survive enter the next-stage of fullhearted love.
At this final stage, couples have reached a level of trust between them that enables them to share their deepest feelings like joys and sexual encounters without being uncomfortable with being vulnerable with each other. At this time, there is great satisfaction, contentment, and mutual commitment that marks true love as it occurs – it is also when long-term happiness often begins! Not every couple makes it this far along in their relationship journey but those that do can begin planning a life together such as marriage or having children together.
Stage 5: Finding your calling as a couple
At this stage, both partners should find their shared purpose as a couple and may begin considering a long-term commitment. You will learn to appreciate each other’s strengths and work to foster them together. You also develop a healthy balance between intimacy and independence in your relationship – being there for one another while still enjoying individual hobbies and interests that bring depth to your connection.
As couples, you must also navigate adversity together, such as financial crises, illnesses, and betrayals. At these moments, either cherish each other and cultivate gratitude for what is already there or nurture resentment over what’s missing from life.
Each couple experiences these five stages differently, though most serious relationships reach Wholehearted Love as their destination. However, it’s important to keep in mind that these stages are circular; you will return to certain ones throughout your relationship cycle multiple times; in some instances, couples may remain stuck at one particular level for years before moving on to the next one. If you need assistance moving onto the next level of love, consulting a licensed therapist could be invaluable in creating healthy and long-lasting bonds between partners.
Bottom line
Some couples breeze through all stages of love seamlessly, navigating its ups and downs together while growing stronger together. Others struggle or even fall apart; taking your relationship to the next level requires trust, vulnerability, open communication, patience as well as a deep level of commitment and intimacy.
Levinger theorized that all relationships pass through five distinct stages: falling in love, becoming a couple, disillusionment, creating lasting love, and finally finding your calling as a couple. Unfortunately, many individuals become confused by this theory and move through these stages too quickly – this could be disastrous as each stage plays an integral part in creating strong foundations for their relationships.
As an example, men often mistake telling their girlfriends they love them as the fourth stage when it’s more of a power struggle! While this stage can be trying for both partners involved, it’s necessary to reach Blissful Love; here partners commit themselves forever; Jesus even talked about this type of unconditional love in terms of blessing those who curse you, turning the other cheek, giving to those who steal from you and helping those in need; it is truly madly in love when this stage has been reached!
