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5 Rules for Opening Your Relationship Without Blowing It Up

Go slow, make honesty possible, plan for jealousy and new crushes, and expect your original agreements to evolve once real life kicks in.

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Opening a relationship can make two otherwise reasonable adults believe they can predict every possible emotion they’re about to have. So they make rules. Lots of rules. Then somebody develops a crush, somebody gets jealous when they swore they wouldn’t, and all of a sudden, Rule No. 7 needs a rewrite.

More than 1 in 5 adults have tried some form of non-monogamy, according to recent research, but there’s no universal handbook for doing it the “right way.” Martha Kauppi, a licensed marriage and family therapist who works with consensually non-monogamous couples, writes in Psychology Today that the agreements people make at the beginning are usually just that—a beginning.

Here’s what she recommends:

1. Know What Kind of Partner You........

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