Every year, the world turns to Valentine's Day to remind us to renew our committments and declarations of love to that special person in our lives. According to Wikipedia, the day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Today it's characterized by the giving of cards and flowers, an outward sign of two people's love for one another.

While we don't really know all of the reasons some relationships survive and others thrive, we do have some pretty good ideas. In this special guide, we've gathered together articles that focus on love, relationships and Valentine's Day, including one that offers you a simple relationship-building exercise you and your lover can do together.

New for 2013

Relationship Experts On True Love & Making Love Last
What is true love? It’s a question that’s been contemplated by everyone from authors to artists to philosophers to clinicians. And it’s one that naturally brings up another key query:...

Self-ishness: The Key to Finding Lasting Love
Self-love is important too.

7 Simple Steps to Improve Your Relationship
What better day to start than today?

5 Ways to Show Your Loved Ones Some Love This Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for lovers. It’s also a great time to acknowledge the amazing people in our lives. As psychotherapist Ashley Eder, said,“The focus on romantic love at Valentine’s...

5 Great Low or No-Cost Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day
In our society, we typically equate great gifts with great cash. But you don’t need to splurge on a gift to spoil your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s...

Improving Your Relationship

• 7 Tips for the Romantically Challenged on Valentine's Day
  Whether you're stumped on what to get your sweetheart or romantically clumsy (or clueless), these tips from two seasoned relationship experts can help!

• 6 Steps For Better Communication About Valentine's Day
  Now's a good time to make your relationship even better!

• Four Steps for Working on Your Relationship
  How to improve your romantic relationship in four steps.

• Understanding Jealousy in Your Relationship
  For as long as there have been men, women, and relationships there has been jealousy, the fear of losing the person you love to a rival.

• Be My Valentine: An Exercise to Grow Your Relationship
  It's almost Valentine's Day! Do the following exercise to learn where your relationship could use a boost. Along with the usual card or flowers, consider giving your sweetheart the gift of efforts to make your relationship stronger.

• 5 Secrets to a Successful Long-Term Relationship or Marriage
  There have been a thousand or more articles written about how to have a successful long-term relationship or marriage, but none that seem to capture some of the core ingredients I've found important in relationships.

• Surviving Valentine's Day and Beyond: Coping with Relationship Stress
  With Valentine's Day fast approaching, our thoughts turn to the often-tricky area of romantic relationships.

• Good Communication in Marriage Starts with Respect
  Communication is the mortar that holds a relationship together -- if it breaks down, the relationship will crumble.

• 5 Easy Steps to Better Communication
  Being able to express yourself clearly and being able to listen well can help you avoid a great deal of stress in your closest relationship.

• Stay Sexy Your Entire Life!
  If you are over 50 and want the best that life has to offer, you probably desire a passionate, stimulating sex life.

• Learning to Say No
  Do you wish you could put your foot down sometimes and say no?

• Building Resilience
  Resilient relationships not only survive struggle and adversity, they grow stronger.

• Choosing Happiness in Our Lives Revisited
  At some point in our life, we may forget or give up the responsibility of directing our life to where we want it to go.

• 10 Rules for Friendly Fighting for Couples
  Not exactly romantic, but hey, even the best of relationships sometimes need a little help when the chips are down and we're arguing with our loved one.

• Couples Can Communicate Without Anger
  Effective communication requires a willingness to listen to the other person's point of view without getting defensive.

• Healing Your Relationship
  For most people, it seems, learning about relationships is a matter of trial and error, often with a lot of pain and heartache mixed in.

• Facing Enduring Differences and Getting to We
  Enduring differences develop out of expectations learned from one's family of origin (for example, gender roles) and longstanding character traits (for example, submissiveness).

Love

• Friends with Benefits: Can Women Handle It?
  Why can't we just have casual sexual encounters without involving our emotions?

• Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Love Meets Reality
  Do online matchmaking services really work?

• Valentine's Day: A Time to Celebrate Many Kinds of Love
  For those who are romancing, it is a day for declaring love and devotion and for showering one's beloved with sentimental gifts, candy, and cards.

• The Secret to Being Loved
  As basic and important as love is, it certainly isn't simple. I know it doesn't sound very romantic, but love is a skill as well as an emotion.

• Showing Children How To Love: A Year-Round Gift
  How did you know your parents loved each other? Looking for material for a Valentine's Day story, I took a poll of adult friends as we sat around waiting for our kids to get out of the locker room.

Family

• Valentine's Day and Parental LOVE
  Did you know that about 40 percent of the 180 million Valentine's cards purchased this year will be bought by parents for their children?

• Celebrate Your Family's Heart this Valentine's Day
  A good day to think of who we love and why we love them.

Loneliness, Grief and Singlehood

• Valentine's Day: Love and the Lonely Heart
  This love celebration often comes with some serious pangs of loneliness.

• Alone and Lonely on Valentine's Day? Try Contributing
  Have you ever viewed the holiday as an opportunity to express your gratitude and contribute to others?

• Coping with Grief on Valentine's Day
  Losing a loved one stays with us forever. But holidays, in particular, can make the loss even tougher to handle.

Gifts and Valentine's Day

• Is Happiness Tied to Emotions or Material Gifts?
  Should you focus on an experience -- like a shared dinner together -- or a gift -- such as flowers -- this Valentine's Day? Research has a few answers.

• Chocolate as a Stress Reliever
  With Valentine's Day on the horizon, a new study gives additional support for treating your loved one with sweets for the special day.

Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 13 Feb 2013
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.