Offer affection your partner welcomes
Whenyou want a moment of physical closeness
Offer a specific gentle touch: “Would you like a hug?” If welcomed, share it without adding an expectation of sex. Accept another kind of closeness or no touch; let either person end it.
Start tiny
Ask whether holding hands would feel good.
What you’ll notice
A little closeness that both people actually want.
SafetyConsent can change at any point. Affection creates no obligation.
Jolink, Chang & Algoe (2022). Perceived Partner Responsiveness Forecasts Behavioral Intimacy as Measured by Affectionate Touch. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Read the source ↗ . Prospective/dyadic evidence links responsiveness and affectionate touch; it does not prescribe touch or establish this short exercise as treatment.
Foundation: The load-bearing practices you return to. Build the base and keep it in play.
