Lack of effective communication is a key factor in the breakdown of what is otherwise a healthy relationship. In order to stay mentally healthy and raise mentally healthy children, it is essential to communicate effectively with them. It is equally important to have effective communication with your friends and other important people in your life.
If you need help because you experience an inordinate amount of difficulty managing stress or experience a considerable amount of anxiety on a daily basis, it may be due to ineffective communication and consequently unhealthy relationships with others.
So what is effective communication? The dictionary defines the word effective as having an intended or expected result. When you communicate, you seek to understand and be understood. You are exchanging information.
Communication is both an expressive process of sending messages and a receptive process of receiving messages. Lack of effective communication may be due to a problem at one or both ends of the process.
We all want to communicate effectively. For effective communication, these three secrets, when used, can build healthy relationships and prevent a wide range of social problems, from hurt feelings and anger to friendship breakups and even violence.
The first secret is to listen to the other person. I mean really listen. Listening to the other person has real psychological value. Look at the other person and maintain eye contact. Nod, smile, and occasionally make affirmative statements to show you’re paying attention. And most importantly, wait for the other person to complete a thought without interrupting to express your own ideas.
The second secret is to ask questions and seek clarification. Don’t always assume that you understand what the other person is saying. Asking questions and seeking the opinions of others and making affirmative or rewarding statements indicates that you are genuinely trying to understand what they are saying.
And, the third secret is to paraphrase what you heard so you can be sure you got the right idea. Paraphrasing the comments of others adds impact to your own communication. By acknowledging someone’s opinion, taking it, and repeating it, you reinforce and amplify it for the other person. Paraphrasing can often turn a heated discussion into a constructive conversation.
Start putting these three secrets to effective communication into practice today and watch your relationships improve and even stay at a higher level. Also, he will begin to experience a general improvement in his own mental health.
