Although the term was born in boardrooms, relationship therapists say it’s having a second life in their sessions. “A relationship can have been meaningful, formative, and deeply real, and also short-lived,” says Pataky. Yet there are strong cultural messages that conflate relationship duration with relationship seriousness, stability, and even happiness, as well as individual fortitude. But while longevity is often taken as proof that the relationship was and continues to be worth the investments made, relationship health can’t be predicated on time together, alone, says Pataky. True relationship health and happiness requires factors like emotional safety, strong communication skills, and mutual respect, she says—qualities that, while they may, don’t necessarily deepen over time.