Responding To Your Partner's Defensiveness
With A Backbone And Compassion
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I'll get right into it. Your partner tends to get defensive. When you're trying to share your thoughts or feelings about the relationship or something they did that impacted you, they jump to explaining themselves, pushing back on your experience, or shutting down. You don't get the care and concern you need, so your issues fester.
Marina Rosenthal
Today, I'm breaking down practical ways to respond when faced with defensiveness from your partner. Let's be clear—it's not your job to make them less defensive, and nothing you do will improve the situation if you have a partner who isn't invested in making the relationship better.
But although their defensiveness is theirs alone, you're still there left needing to respond to it! So...let's get into how you can most effectively reply when their defensiveness flares up.