Trust is extremely important in any relationship. Be it with our family member or among friends or the partner we are romantically involved with, trust forms the basis of the relationship. Growing stronger trust takes time and effort. Knowing the other person and being vulnerable with them and trying to understand them better helps in deeper connections and emotional intimacy. Trust is one of the foundation blocks of a relationship and helps in growing safer and stronger relations. However, there are various types of trust in a relationship. “There are three types of trust in a relationship: witnessing, verifying and experiential (Bercaw). What’s challenging is that we often give experiential trust to someone early on with little thought of the magnitude of that decision. Then, if something happens to challenge or break that experiential trust, it can then be very difficult to get it back. If you are struggling with trust in your relationship start with what you can actually do – witnessing and verifying. Understand that experiential trust is more about a feeling that occurs after you’ve done the first two levels well,” wrote Therapist Jason VanRuler.
Witnessing: This is the primary level of trusting someone where we put in effort and time to witness their actions thoroughly. The trust we build in them is developed as we experience their actions and start believing them based on what we have seen. This goes for us as well. We should take conscious actions and start to become trustworthy for someone else.
Verifying: This is the second level of developing trust where we seek information about the person from others who we trust. This adds a layer of assurance and verification to the thought of trusting them. We should also surround ourselves with people who can vouch for us. Seeking testimonials and recommendations can help in strengthening trust.
Experiential: This is the type of trust that develops after we start to experience things together. It takes time and adds to strengthening the bond. In relationships, we should constantly put effort to build honesty and reliability in order to grow experiential trust.
