Stefanie Stahl is a best-selling author and psychotherapist, Lukas Klaschinski is a podcast star and psychologist. In their joint column this week, they talk about long-distance relationships – and how love can work at a distance.
by Stefanie Stahl and Lukas Klaschinski
Lukas Klaschinski: We often talk in this column about what separates people emotionally in their relationships. Today we want to deal with physical distance, which has its own pitfalls, but which in no way excludes emotional closeness. On the contrary, many people in long-distance relationships feel very close. There are quite a few couples who live at a distance; one in eight relationships is a long-distance relationship. On average, they are separated by 650 kilometers. Steffi, are you one of those people who have ever had a long-distance or weekend relationship?
Stefanie Stahl: Actually, yes. It started as a close relationship, but then became a long-distance relationship between Germany and America. The man was transferred to the USA and before we gave up the relationship we just wanted to try it out.
Lukas Klaschinski: How was this change? Has it been good for your relationship? And what didn’t work so well?