Melissa Stephens put together this very helpful piece on an issue I had not thought about previously. I was not aware of her focus when I agreed to be interviewed about romantic relationships but was glad to contribute what I have learned from specializing in couples for many years.
Excerpt:
Other red flags to look out for are when the person you’re talking to will only communicate in text and refuses to video call. If they ever talk about the need for money or try to move the relationship along too quickly, those are major warning signs.
“You might even feel like it’s a dream come true and so you want to move very quickly,” said Dr. John Petersen, a licensed psychologist from Family Psychology of South Bend. “But pay attention to your own kind of internal alarms and then any blind spot that you have.”
Petersen says you should look for any warning signs before agreeing to meet them in person.
“We all wear rose-colored glasses in the beginning of a romantic relationship,” he said. “But we don’t always want the rose-colored glasses to be distorting reality.”