{"id":640,"date":"2011-07-15T17:12:53","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T17:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chadstutzman.net\/?p=640"},"modified":"2011-07-15T17:12:53","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T17:12:53","slug":"six-communication-tips-for-healthy-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/?p=640","title":{"rendered":"Six Communication Tips for Healthy Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Having healthy relationships in our lives is vital, yet many people do not have many close, vibrant relationships.\u00a0 The way in which we communicate with people often determines how healthy that relationship becomes.\u00a0 Communication also determines how close we allow people into our lives.\u00a0 Communicating on an emotional level is difficult, but critical.\u00a0 Especially in the marriage relationship, listening with the heart paves the way to deeper intimacy.\u00a0 Here are six ways to work on that and instantly improve your most important relationships.<\/p>\n

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  1. Listen beyond the words to the feelings – <\/strong>People’s emotions tell the real story of what is going on.\u00a0 If you focus on only what is being said, you may miss a much greater message.\u00a0 People generally feel more understood, cared for, and connected when the communication focuses on their emotions and feelings rather than merely on their words or thoughts.\u00a0 The approach should be that we really care about what the other person is feeling about the topic being discussed.\u00a0 This may mean that we need to ask questions about their feelings instead of the words that were spoken.<\/li>\n
  2. The real message is often the emotions behind the words – <\/strong>When this is done well, it communicates that we really do care about the other person and are not just trying to win an argument.\u00a0 When we take each interaction as an opportunity to learn more about the other person it sets us up for success.\u00a0 This can be a difficult thing to do, especially for guys, so some trial and error will need to take place as this is practiced.<\/li>\n
  3. Allow others’ emotions to touch you – <\/strong>People feel loved when they know you truly understand their feelings.\u00a0 They don’t care that we may have a solution for the problem as much as we understand how they feel.\u00a0 When we actually acknowledge the emotion they are expressing it helps them to feel more understood.<\/li>\n
  4. Effective communication is a dynamic process of discovery that maintains energy in the relationship – <\/strong>Again if we view communication as a dynamic discovery process instead of a problem solving time it will improve our relationships immensely.\u00a0 Sometimes just asking if the other person is looking for solutions to the problem or just a time to express frustration can help how that conversations goes.\u00a0 This kind of communication will bring new energy to the relationship, because it is touching them at a heart level not just a mind level.<\/li>\n
  5. Effective communication starts with safety – <\/strong>When we listen rather than judge or correct, we create a safe environment for understanding to take place.\u00a0 One of our primary responsibilities is to create a safe place for the other person to express their heart.\u00a0 That cannot happen unless the other person trusts that we have their best interest at heart and are truly concerned about them.\u00a0 In a marriage, there will be an emotional wall if there is not trust and they do not feel safe to share on an emotional level.\u00a0 That wall is a way of protecting their emotions and will only come down when they feel safe.<\/li>\n
  6. Communication is understanding, not determining who’s right – <\/strong>All of our relationships will thrive if our priority is understanding the other person instead of fixing the other person.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So start working on your emotional communication skills right now by focusing on the emotions behind the words.\u00a0 Approach each conversation as an opportunity to learn more about what makes that person tick and what is important to that person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Having healthy relationships in our lives is vital, yet many people do not have many close, vibrant relationships.\u00a0 The way in which we communicate with people often determines how healthy that relationship becomes.\u00a0 Communication also determines how close we allow people into our lives.\u00a0 Communicating on an emotional level is difficult, but critical.\u00a0 Especially in … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “Six Communication Tips for Healthy Relationships”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadstutzman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}