Our experiences in the first dozen or so years of our lives have a powerful impact on the people we become.

They influence how our brains develop during the years leading up to adolescence.

But even after these early years, relationships continue to play a crucial role in our growth and development.Genes influence some aspects of neural growth, but there is a much fuller set of factors that contribute to our well-being than genetics alone.

How the mind unfolds, how relationships are supportive, how people feel a sense of belonging to a larger group all influence how the brain achieves and maintains integrative development at the root of our pathway toward health. Especially influential in terms of how the brain develops—and, in turn, how we learn to calm our emotions, how we understand ourselves, and how we relate to others and the larger world—are our experiences during infancy. The relationships we have with our parents and other people who care for us when we are very young most directly shape who we become.

Humans are social creatures and need to be in relationships in order to survive.

Relationships are at the very core of our existence and have a lot to do with how we’ve evolved, as a species.

Every organism on this planet is ruled by a fundamental biological imperative that propels them to be in community, to be in relationship with other organisms.

Whether we are thinking about it consciously or not, our biology is pushing us to bond. The coming together of individuals in community (starting with two) is a force that drives biological evolution. From an evolutionary perspective, you literally wouldn’t be here without being connected to other humans.

Human beings are not meant to be alone. We are neurologically hardwired to connect with each other. Relationships are crucial to our survival as a human race. They facilitate our reproduction, provide love and a nurturing environment for our development, enhance our life opportunities and extend our survival. So, even if we are survivor’s of multiple failed relationships, we keep trying. But we don’t persist just for the good times. We persist because we are designed to bond.

Humans need not just to survive, they also need to flourish and thrive.

In order to flourish and thrive, the quality of the bonds we make in our lives is essential. Quality relationships are key to our health and wellbeing because they provide love and a nurturing environment for our development.

Furthermore, close relationships actually shape who we are along the lifespan.