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What Are Ways To Connect And Build Intimacy With Someone Who Prefers Love Language Via Physical Touch

What are ways to connect and build intimacy with someone who expresses love via physical touch?

What does it mean if someone's love language is physical touch?
If someone’s love language is touch it means that they are fed by, need and are brought joy and connection through touch.  They may feel depressed, stressed or unloved if they don’t receive enough touch and may not feel emotional intimacy with someone if that person does not fulfill their touch needs. It can be a short touch as they let you through a door, holding hands when walking or sitting together, a brief touch to push back your hair and the following: 
Touch to-do’s
“How about a hug?” Ask for hugs and give them freely. There are many forms of affection — cuddling, a pat on the shoulder, etc. Find out what kind of affectionate touch the people in your life want and give it to them. At Florida State, though I did not have a doctorate, I was called Dr. Hugs by my students. My nonverbal communication class had more than100 students, so everywhere I went I got a hug. I loved it.
“Thank you.” Touch can be a reward. A gentle touch on the forearm or hand at work or a hug or kiss at home can let people know you appreciate them. Think of all the little things people do for you and reward them with a touch. I was “the napkin girl” when I was very small and after I went around the table folding and putting the napkin at each place setting, I got a hug. As I grew older and set the full table, I still got a verbal thank you, but the hug was absent. Continue touching to say thank you. Heidi Feldman, chief of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh says, “A child is much more likely to try to please a parent who acknowledges his contribution and thoughtful, helping behavior.”
“Tell me more.” I did research in grad school on touching to increase self-disclosure. Sure enough, when you touch someone even briefly in a non-threatening, non-sexual way, they will self disclose more. This was helpful for me to know and take action as a therapist, but just think how powerful it is to use in your personal relationships. We tend to skate on the surface of our relationships instead on becoming emotionally intimate. Create the intimacy of pillow talk without sex by giving healthy touch to encourage people to share more. There are places and times where “Tell me more” touch works very easily. While cooking or eating dinner with loved ones, you can purposefully touch as you hand each other food, plates and utensils, When riding in a car or golf cart, you are close enough to touch in a non-threatening manner, even if it is something as innocent as passing a drink or handkerchief. In sales or other meeting settings, you can touch when passing out handouts, brochures or samples.
“Let me comfort you.” Sometimes we move away from loved ones who are highly emotional, crying or upset when moving in closer and touching can help them feel better.
There is an exception to this. Therapists are sometimes encouraged not to touch too soon so their patients can stay upset long enough to share all their pain. When my best friend Roy was dying, one of the worst things to deal with was the lack of comforting touch I could get from others. I moved to Atlanta away from my other friends and family and the one person who normally hugged me and gave me the most comfort was Roy. And he needed me to be strong for him. If you know someone who is going through grief and loss give them comforting touch. So often, we get caught up in taboos and avoid the natural inclination to touch. People will step back or arch away if they are uncomfortable with the prospect of your touch, so take the step to try it, knowing you can move out of it if you need to.
“You can do it.” Use touch as a motivator. Touch as you give a work assignment, as you put your child on their first two-wheeler and as you send your sweetie off to his or her first marathon. Touch makes us feel empowered and is a great encourager. Increased self-esteem received through touch can help others follow through a challenging task. I spent a lot of my teenage years working on plays. I remember clearly how we would all hug each other before each play started and would give little back rubs to actors about to go on stage for a difficult part of their performance. The touch fed us and made us strong. Think of all the touch given in a sporting event. It’s not surprising the encouraging touch given to athletes is similar across cultures. We know that a pat on the back moves a person forward.
“Please.” Use touch to ask for help as well. It won’t surprise you to know that pairing touch with a request makes it much more likely the person will do what you ask. Just a brief touch on the forearm, lasting less than a fortieth of a second, can increase your persuasive powers.
“I love you.” It should be very clear to you now we need physical contact to feel acceptance and belonging. We all want to be loved.


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Why do people let abuse and character assassination happen? Clooney, Damon and Afleck didn't speak out, Harvey W


Why do people see abuse and character assassination and let it happen. 

I wrote this awhile ago and I am just posting it. In this article Clooney says Weinstein, "... bragged about bedding stars. Clooney says that at the time,  “..I didn't believe Weinstein because to do so would believe the worst of ...actresses who were friends of mine." Read that again. Clooney was friends with and worked closely with a Harvey who was telling horrible lies about women who were friends of his, and Clooney did-- exactly NOTHING about it. He didn't stop Harvey from telling him the stories, he didn't call Harvey on it and say, "Hey I don't believe you!" He didn't say, I know these women, and I respect them and know they wouldn't be having affairs so I suggest you never say they are to anyone every again." Nor did he do something else that requires integrity, Clooney didn’t tell his women friends about Harvey’s lies so those women could choose how they wanted to protect themselves against Harvey’s character assignation of them. Because there is no doubt that having a huge producer brag to people that he bedded you doesn’t make it safe for you to NOT do so with the next powerful man in your career. Those women need Clooney to be a true friend to them.

People if someone is spreading lies about someone you care for be a stand up person. Iif someone is defaming anyone’s character with lies and deceit stand up!!!! It is oh so easy to not want to risk having a socially awkward conversation and call them on it, or lose membership in the group. But any group that contains and lying monster needs to rethink their membership! Its clear women where abused, its clear women and in some cases men where xd out of Harvey’s “Group” and possibly their careers. But any group member who doesn’t defend a victim is an enabler of the attacker. Here is why group members don’t speak out from another post I wrote.

Ever, wonder why no one spoke up about Weinstein during his years of abuse? For many years I spoke on sexual harassment and the group’s response to it. (In fact, the group’s response to abuse, affairs and romantic relationships was my first research paper in my doctoral program) People around the abuser may know about the abuse to the victim or victims and let it continue. 

Think about the people around Bill Cosby. There are many reasons they may need to believe the abuser is innocent, as believing the truth. That the abuser has abused and is in fact evil creates too much cognitive dissonance. They would have to admit they know and are working with someone evil. Many prefer to keep the mask on the monster and continue their lives as they are. 
They may not feel comfortable “tattling” or really mislabel calling an abuser and abuser wish is not tattling but defending a victim. 

Or they may find it just easier to look the other way. They may say its not my business after all it doesn’t affect me directly as, they aren’t being attacked.  They may think, “I need to be Switzerland and not get involved.”  This is an  easy choice, but not a very noble one. It required no bravery not action  Actually even choosing to say you are like Switzerland is admitting that their is a  problem and your are avoiding it. And oddly Switzerland was NOT nutral  that was their protective mask, while they took money and art and stolen possessions from the Nazis while looking the other way as thousands of people were sent to concentration camps. 

You may blame the victim(s) saying hey they should have not allowed themselves to be abused!! Again not a noble or empathetic choice and or as in this story, they are being fed goodies by the abuser. Sexual Predators like to spread the goodies out to their "Apaths"or "Enablers" In fact, they may spend years giving out goodies, so when if their mask falls, their minions look the other way and allow them to pick it up and put it right back on. so the goodies can keep on coming and the boat isn’t rock and their life can supposedly keep on going as it is. Though in this case, the enablers are exposed as well., and they have to back pedal and defend their own character.     
 Here is a good story on this.

https://lovefraud.com/the-psychopaths-enablers/
                                                                                                                                                        


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5008429/Matt-Damon-KNEW-Harvey-Weinsten-harassed-Gwyneth-Paltrow.html


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Patti Consulted in CLOSER Magazine John Stamos

John Stamos and Caitlin McHugh Could Totally Last, but There's Tension (EXCLUSIVE)

It's a sad day for single ladies around the world, as Closer Weekly reported earlier today that Fuller Housestar John Stamos, 54, is engaged to his girlfriend, Caitlin McHugh, 31, after nearly two years of dating. However, will their 23-year age gap ultimately get the best of them? We spoke with a bunch of relationship and body language experts, who have revealed whether or not they think they could last forever.
"Let's consider the facts: John Stamos is the antithesis of an old man. He's hot, handsome, and successful. And contrary to the Playboy image that's projected onto him by others, John's a 'relationship guy' at heart," says NYC-based relationship expert Susan Winter.
"Caitlin and John have been dating for a year and a half. This is not a fly-by-night romance," she continued. "This is a long enough time period to see how their dispositions (and lifestyles) meld. They've gone through their initial honeymoon period, and have had time to find themselves confronted with disagreements as well as resolutions."

While their relationship has potential, body language expert Patti Wood, who is also an Allergan partner on the Eyepowerment Campaign, shares she believes there might be tension in their relationship. After observing the photo above, Patti shares, "The great thing about that photo is that he has the full front of his body at what I call the heart window. It's called the ventral front, that's the belly area, and the pelvis — all those areas he has touching her, which is incredibly intimate and shows that they have a sexual relationship."
However, after seeing a second photo, Patti continues with, "His [left] hand [is placed] in an unusual position. The tips of the fingers are tightly curled in and away from her — that's unusual and shows a lot of tension. It emphasizes or highlights that there's a little bit of tension about being fully connected. That other part of that is his legs are crossed away from her, and that's an indication that he wants to be seen as his own person and not as a unit with her."
Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.