Fancy trying non-monogamy in your relationship? Here’s EYKTK
From negotiating terms to navigating sexual health, here’s your expert-led guide to opening up WORDS BY QUINN RHODES HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN More people than ever are experimenting with non-monogamy and seeing if it works for them, yet practical advice about how to open up your relationship – and how to proceed once you’ve done it – can be hard to find.
While the immediate instinct following your newfound sexual freedom might be to find the best dating app for non-monogamous folks and get swiping, there’s actually a lot more to figure out.
Luckily, we’ve called in the experts. What is an open relationship? An open relationship can refer to a number of relationship styles, wherein people are free to date, have sex, and/or form romantic relationships with multiple people.
Open relationships fall under the umbrella of non-monogamy, though don’t necessarily all look the same. Dr Liz Powell, a licensed psychologist specialising in non-traditional relationships and author of Building Open Relationships, explains that the majority of us approach dating with a relationship style “based in ownership and control and entitlement and assumptions.” Open relationships challenge these ideas, encouraging us to build relationships based on “clear communication and empowerment and autonomy and agency.” There are lots of terms you might come across in the process of opening up your relationship.
