War Of Words: What's The Difference Between Intimacy & Sexuality?
Intimacy and sexuality may be linked in the dictionary, but they are far from meaning the same.
Relationships are confusing enough and the terms we correlate with them only add to the confusion. Two terms we often mistake for one another are sexuality and intimacy. While they may seem to go hand in hand, in reality these terms are both very different.
Relationship experts Mary Kay Cocharo, Larry Michel, Lou Paget and Jacqueline Williams sit down with YourTango Experts Senior VP Melanie Gorman to distinguish between the two terms. If "sexuality is something you do with your body [while] intimacy is something you do with your head and your heart,” what happens when your relationship focuses more on one than the other? Intimacy is about a connection which does not have to lead to any physical contact, while a sexual relationship tends to be more physical. You can have an intimate relationship with no sexual possibilities and vice versa. You cannot base a relationship solely on one of these. You will need a combination of both in order to have a truly successful and healthy relationship.
If you need help differentiating between the two terms, check out this video and learn how to increase your levels of intimacy or sexuality with your partner.