Sex is not intimacy.

You can have sex without intimacy and intimacy without sex. And although a sexual relationship may lead to an emotionally intimate one, becoming sexual too early in a new relationship may actually interfere with – or be a way to avoid – the development of emotional intimacy.

This may feel like a cold slap in the face if sex is important to you, or you view it as the most important part of a romantic relationship.

But sex without an emotional connection is simply a physical connection. The two can be confused if you haven’t learned to differentiate between your physical needs and your emotional needs, or if you’ve learned to get your needs for connection and closeness met – at least temporarily – through sex.

The connection of emotional intimacy in a romantic relationship not only enhances the physical and sexual connection, it is also more enduring.