What is intimacy?
Intimacy is a basic need to know and be deeply known. It is the building of a close friendship over time.
The more time you spend with another person, the more the emotional intimacy develops. At the lowest level of intimacy, (which you are at with most people) facts and information are shared.
As your intimacy grows, you share opinions (both yours and others) and discuss more intimate topics. At the highest level you usually only have a small number of people—those considered your best friends.
When guys and girls are interested in each other, they begin to develop intimacy (or friendship). They may choose to express their “interest or feelings” by moving to the area of sexual intensity. If they are not at the highest level of intimacy, this can slow down or even stop the building of that friendship and emotional intimacy because the intensity of the sexual feelings makes them feel closer than they really are.
How’s Your Intimacy?
For couples who are having problems in marriage, counselors will sometimes recommend three months of no sex. This helps them rebuild the intimacy that is lacking.
Teens who are in sexually active relationships can test the intimacy of their relationships by taking an intimacy test—stop having sex for three months and see if the relationship lasts.