After a breakup, it may be tempting to jump right into another relationship. Here's why people should resist that urge—and what they can do instead.
Having an action plan for coping makes relationship dissolution more manageable, and one’s action plan should include consideration of purpose. In particular, the time post-breakup has one primary purpose: to grieve the loss that occurred and to learn from it.
As a practicing psychologist, I’ve heard many individuals say they didn’t need much time to heal because the grieving process started long before the official end of their relationship. Put another way, they would say they already mourned the loss of the relationship while they were technically in it.
Ask yourself the following question:"What did I do in the relationship that contributed to problems in the relationship?" Following that, ask yourself"What are three or four things I will do differently in my next relationship to be a better partner?" If you’ve recently ended a relationship, you may tell yourself that you already know those answers after a month or two of being single. As a practicing psychologist, I can assure you that additional valuable realizations will come at six months, a year, or even further in the future.