Dr. Rose Bricker
There are several things that you can do to build a healthy relationship. I think one of the most important components of a healthy relationship is effective communication. If you don’t know how to communicate in an assertive way, your relationship will suffer. How are you communicating with the people around you? Are you satisfied with the way you communicate?
Four Different Ways We Communicate
Assertive Communication:
The focus here is to remain calm, use “I” statements, avoid accusation language, and stand up for yourself and others in a positive way.
Aggressive Communication:
This is when you raise your voice, use “you” statements, make demands of others, interrupt others, blame and shame others, and intimidate others, both physically and verbally.
Passive Communication:
Here you are unable to share your opinions and thoughts, you feel walked on by others, and you become resentful.
Passive-Aggressive Communication:
In this way of communicating, you use sarcasm, your feelings and actions don’t match up, you sabotage and annoy others (often just to get a reaction), you avoid confrontation, and you deny the issues.
Another issue that interrupts healthy communication is defensiveness. When you get defensive, you are unable to understand what is being said to us. We may respond by projecting faults and negative self-beliefs or concepts onto others. We may refuse to accept reality or facts that are being told to us. We may retreat to adolescent behaviors. We also may unconsciously deny feelings and thoughts in order to avoid feeling them. As you might imagine, any and all of these defensive mechanisms challenge our ability to build a healthy relationship.
If you would like more information on improving communication and relationships, please call me, Dr. Rose, at 520-820-4079 for a 30-minute complimentary meet and greet appointment. I am located just a little north of Oro Valley. I am now offering home visits.