Sad girl on her couch looking at her phone in the dark representing Long Distance Relationship Breakup

Takeaways: Whether you are the dumper or the dumpee, long-distance relationship breakups can be uniquely painful and lonely. In this article, I’m discussing strategies for healing from a long-distance breakup, ending things with a long-distance partner, and how to know when it’s time to work on your long-distance relationship, or call it quits.

Should We (Long-Distance) Break Up?

As a couples therapist and relationship coach who provides services online, I frequently work with couples who find themselves in long-distance relationships. Long-distance relationships are more popular than ever these days, especially as more and more people are finding love through apps or websites that expand their pool of potential partners beyond their own towns and cities. 

Divorce counseling for breakup recovery is a great option, like many of our Denver therapists would tell you, but let’s talk about the period before that final stage of ending a long-distance relationship.

Lots of great articles and podcasts exist for people in long-distance relationships about how to improve their relationships or maintain their connections. I’ve worked with many couples in long-distance couples therapy and I know that it’s possible to heal and strengthen your relationship, no matter the miles between you. However, today, I want to talk about a side of long-distance relationships that usually gets less attention–how to know when it’s time to let go, and how to move on once you’ve made that decision. A long-distance breakup comes with its own trials and tribulations that fall outside the realm of ‘standard’ relationships, and I am here to talk about just that.

What’s The Real Problem – The Relationship or The Distance?

…[B]eing in a long-distance relationship requires more intentionality to help each partner feel loved and cherished.

When working with couples or individuals who are going through a hard time in their long-distance relationship, one of the most common questions I receive is whether the problems they are experiencing are just being caused by the distance or whether it’s the relationship itself that isn’t working

In my experience, the answer to this question is most often that the challenges at hand are from a combination of the two. For example, I often meet with couples who experience some communication difficulties when they’re together that then are exacerbated into something larger when they are long distance. 

In these kinds of situations, I recommend that couples work with an experienced couples therapist or relationship coach who can help them determine the root cause of their challenges and give them tools to help address them.

4 Questions to Ask Yourself When Your Long Distance Relationship Is in Trouble

Here are a few of the questions that I usually walk through as I help my clients in long-distance couples therapy determine whether their challenges are being caused by being long distance, or by deeper issues within the relationship:

  1. What is your relationship like when you are physically together?
  2. Have you been physically together for extended periods of time before?
  3. Have you been physically together when real-life stressors are present? (Or in other words, not just on vacation?)
  4. In thinking about your relationship’s challenging areas, what are those areas like when you are physically together?

A final point about this common question: If your relationship is likely to remain long-distance for months or years to come, differentiating between problems caused by the distance and problems caused by the relationship may not matter all that much.

When clients ask me this question in our work together, they’re often assuming that if the relationship is all good when they’re together and it’s really just the distance that’s causing difficulties, they can discount the problems caused by physical separation as somehow less real. However, if being long-distance is a standard part of your relationship, the problems that come along with it deserve serious consideration as you decide whether to continue in the relationship, or call it quits.

What If You Can’t Make A Long-Distance Relationship Work? 

There are lots of valid reasons why partners might choose to end a relationship, and when it comes to couples who are long-distance, physical separation also often plays a role. While there are couples who are able to have healthy and happy long-distance relationships, not being able to consistently share physical space with your partner can be a legitimate challenge.

One reason for this is that being in a long-distance relationship requires more intentionality to help each partner feel loved and cherished. When you live with or in the same city as your significant other, it’s relatively easy to share little moments that build your connection, such as doing small acts of service for each other or holding hands as you talk about your day. In a long-distance relationship, it often takes more planning and forethought to show these small gestures of love, which means that it’s easier for them to fall to the wayside.

If you come to the conclusion that a long-distance relationship and the intentionality necessary to maintain it is not right for you, but still want to maintain your relationship with your partner, it may be worth exploring if you or your partner relocating to either live together, or even just in the same city, is a feasible option.

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Long Distance: Signs It’s Time To Break Up 

Knowing how to break a long-distance relationship, regardless of whether it’s been long term or not, is one of the most common questions that I get asked by my clients.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that no one knows your relationship like you do, and only you and your partner can make the final decision of when to end things (here’s an article on why breaking up was probably a good thing). 

3 Signs You Should Break Up with Your Long-Distance Relationship

With that in mind, here are some of the signs specific to long-distance couples that I often discuss with my clients about when it may be time to consider letting go of your relationship:

  1. You realize that you or your partner has needs that are too difficult to meet when you are long-distance, and these unmet needs are leading to resentment (read: how to get your needs met).
  2. You or your partner don’t have the energy or time to exercise the intentionality that’s necessary to have a healthy and thriving long-distance relationship.
  3. You don’t want to be long-distance anymore, but there is no feasible way for you and your partner to live together or in the same city in the near future.

How To Break Up A Long Distance Relationship

Just like with all breakups, showing your partner respect is a key part of ending your long-distance relationship. Here are a three things that are helpful to consider when trying to figure out how to break up with a long-distance partner: 

#1 The Medium 

A good rule of thumb when breaking up someone you care about is to choose a medium as close as possible to speaking in person, like a video chat or a phone call. Because long-distance relationships often rely a lot on text messaging or email as a means of communication, it can be tempting to break up through these means of communication as well, especially if you’re a person who hates conflict. Resist that urge! 

Unless there were extenuating circumstances in the relationship that could endanger your emotional safety during a phone or video conversation (like emotional abuse or gaslighting), it’s always better to go with a phone or video call if possible. 

#2 The Timing

Another important factor to consider when initiating a breakup with your long-distance partner is timing. Ideally, try to choose a time when you know they won’t be busy, like in the middle of their workday, or preoccupied, like right before an interview or large presentation.

#3 Give a Head’s Up 

It can be helpful to your partner (and help get the ball rolling in the actual breakup conversation) if you give them a head’s up about having something important to talk about with them when you schedule a time for your phone or video conversation. 

There’s no need to go into too much detail (after all, you don’t want to do the actual breaking up here), but simply letting them know that when you have this conversation, there’s something important you need to talk with them about regarding the relationship — this will give them some time to mentally prepare for what’s to come so they don’t feel totally blindsided by the breakup.

How Can I Begin To Heal From The End Of My Long-Distance Relationship?

Because long-distance breakups tend to change people’s daily lives less dramatically, it may take longer for the reality of your breakup and the typical grieving process to set in…

In my work as a breakup recovery therapist and coach, I’ve noticed that certain “breakup types” are harder than other. One of those types is a breakup over the holidays. The other is a long-distance breakup.

One of the ways that I have seen a long-distance breakup be different from typical breakups is that, at first, your life may not seem to change all that much. In a typical relationship, a breakup often involves moving out from the living space you share with your partner or finding new things to do during your evenings and weekends. However, when your long-distance relationship ends, your living space will usually not change, and your day-to-day life will likely remain largely the same, minus some messages and calls from your ex.

Because long-distance breakups tend to change people’s daily lives less dramatically, it may take longer for the reality of your breakup and the typical grieving process to set in (here’s more on the stages of a break up). 

Once it does, however, healing from the end of your relationship is much like healing from the end of any relationship. Grieving your relationship, experiencing a range of emotions, and eventually, growth, are all normal and to be expected. To learn about the stages of a breakup for long distance relationships in more detail, I recommend checking out Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby’s podcast episode specifically on this topic: Long Distance Relationship Questions.

As you heal from the end of your relationship, should you feel that additional support beyond what your friends and family can provide would be helpful, I would also recommend meeting with a therapist or coach who specializes in breakup recovery for private meetings or group sessions (like my online Breakup Support Group). 

Gaining professional guidance can help you make sure that you are on the right path to healing, and, if you decide to attend a group, hearing from others in similar situations can help you to know that you’re not alone.

If you find yourself in a long-distance relationship that doesn’t seem to be working, I hope that some of the perspectives I’ve shared here can be helpful to you. If you would like my support in healing from a long-distance relationship breakup, I invite you to schedule a free consultation.

Warmly,

Kensington

Sources

  1. Krapf S. Moving in or Breaking Up? The Role of Distance in the Development of Romantic Relationships. Eur J Popul. 2017 May 24;34(3):313-336. doi: 10.1007/s10680-017-9428-2. PMID: 30976249; PMCID: PMC6241008. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6241008/
  2. Waterman EA, Wesche R, Leavitt CE, Jones DE, Lefkowitz ES. Long-distance dating relationships, relationship dissolution, and college adjustment. Emerg Adulthood. 2017 Aug;5(4):268-279. doi: 10.1177/2167696817704118. Epub 2017 Apr 25. PMID: 29034134; PMCID: PMC5635840. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5635840/

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