(ThyBlackMan.com) Communication is often an area where relationships break down or struggle. We often bottle up our feelings and emotions, let situations spiral out of control, and avoid confrontation or dealing with issues. Communication in a relationship is also something that can be fixed. Below, we’ve provided five simple ways you can accomplish this with your partner.
Understanding Communication Preferences
The first step in effective communication is to understand what works best for you and your partner; you can then tailor your discussions and communication to suit. Different people communicate in varying ways. Some people need to be the talker and just want their partner to listen as they vent their frustrations. Others prefer to take advice and prefer if their partner is more active in discussions.
Perfect the Art of Listening
If your partner is opening up to you and telling you how they feel, they expect your support and the bare minimum you need to do is listen, even if you don’t have the answers. Many of us are guilty of being poor listeners, but if you want to communicate effectively, it’s something you must work on. The easiest thing to do is to remove any distractions; put your phone away, switch the TV off, and give your partner your undivided attention.
Being Able to Express Your Feelings and Emotions Freely
It’s fine being able to listen, and understanding how you both prefer to communicate, but you both have to feel able to speak about your emotions and feelings without negative repercussions.
This is a mistake couples often make; when one partner speaks about how they are feeling or perhaps mentions something negative, the other might lash out, shut the person down, or wall themselves off. You have to be frank with each other and agree that you can speak to one another about anything, and that the other person will listen, be supportive, and give their honest answer.
Understanding Non-Verbal Cues From Your Partner
Communication isn’t just language. We communicate through our gestures, action, routine, and body language. It will help greatly if you learn to spot things like negative body language from your partner, or signs that are showing they are feeling down or need extra support. Picking up on no-verbal cues like this can then give you the chance to have discussions whereas before things might have gone unnoticed.
Working Through Problems and Having Patience
With this new found insight and improvement in communication, the last thing to remember is that you won’t necessarily change your communication over night. Behavior like this is ingrained in our psyche so learning a new way to speak and emote is something you will both have to be prepared to work at.
There is also the potential for outside help with something like Austin couples counseling or a similar service for the region you live in. Professional marriage counselors can give additional advice and see the areas you can potentially work on.
Endnote
If you value your relationship and want to make it work, improving your communication and becoming more in tune with your partner is a great starting point. It starts with understanding how you both prefer to communicate.
You can then work on improving your listening skills, learning your partner’s emotional cues, and expressing and discussing your feelings with them freely. This should all lead to a relationship that’s more open and honest, where you can fully support each other.
Staff Writer; George P. Ford
