As a woman, you really want your relationship to work. You want it to last. And especially if you genuinely love your man and you’ve already invested a lot of time and effort into your relationship, you’ll do whatever it takes to get out of whatever rocky patch your relationship is on at this time.

So what does it take? How do I save my relationship with my boyfriend?

Here are some things that you could do.

The first thing is to try and understand what’s happening in your respective lives. Are you both going through some major changes like new careers or new responsibilities? Are you both experiencing a lot of outside stress?

If you can see that your current problems are caused by temporary stresses, try to be patient and understanding. Be patient until the stressors are eliminated. If the problem is external, once it’s resolved your relationship can go back to normal.

Remember that men don’t like women who nag. And they don’t like multiple stress sources. So if you ride on his dilemmas, he’ll resent you for it. And this can damage the relationship in the long run. So if the cause for battle is petty, don’t go to war. Be there for him instead. Especially if his problems are bigger than yours, don’t make it about you. Make it about him; he’ll love you more for letting him take the spotlight this time.

However, if the problem is more grave and more permanent, the next step in how to save a relationship with your boyfriend is to get him to communicate better with you. Most relationship issues are caused by bad communication. So this is one hurdle that you really have to address to make sure that you’re relationship will be healthy and happy.

The trick is to ease the guy into communicating better gently. Typically, men are not as verbal or as open with feelings compared to women. So tread gently. Don’t intimidate your boyfriend. Don’t bring up couples therapy or couple retreats before your guy is ready. This could seriously backfire. And your boyfriend could be so freaked out that he would rather leave you than go through the stress of it all.

The key on how to save a relationship with your boyfriend through communication is to get him to open up slowly but surely. And make him open up in a non-threatening environment. If he’s not so good at it in the beginning, don’t embarrass or berate him. Be supportive without being a nag.