5 Communication Tips For Couples
Whether you’ve been in a relationship for years or you’re in a new one, the ability to communicate with your partner is key. It’s also important to know where your communication skills thrive and where you could improve.
While it takes effort, working on those skills is important to maintain a healthy relationship. These skills will take commitment from both partners to ensure you’re making positive daily changes.
Throughout this article, we will discuss tips to maintain healthy communication or improve communication with your partner.
Be open-minded
It’s important to consider your partner's words and feelings and make an effort to understand. Some struggle with feeling sympathetic to situations, and that’s okay. Even if you can’t directly relate to your partner's feelings, it’s important to understand and accept how they’re feeling. You can do this by:
Asking questions to show you’re engaged in the conversation, and so they know you care about how they’re feeling.
Creating a safe space for them to share their feelings.
Avoiding challenging their feelings and emotions because you can’t relate.
Make time for each other
The key here is to make sure you’re taking the time and effort to be aware of what each other has going on and that you take time to connect.
Whether dedicating a set amount of time each day to your partner, giving yourselves a date night once a month, or finding other ways to connect, it’s important to make time in your relationship to communicate.
Compromise
Being able to compromise is critical to positive communication in a relationship. Instead of saying “no” to something, try to explain why you’re unable to do something or offer an alternative plan or solution. Giving your partner options and a fair compromise shows that you care.
Think before speaking
Before rushing to a decision or saying something, it’s important to take a minute to stop and think about what you want to say and how you want to say it. Depending on what is going to be said, your partner may react in many ways, so here are some things to consider:
How will your partner receive and react to the message?
How will you respond to their reaction?
Could what you’re saying be an emotional trigger?
Is what you’re saying clear and concise? Or is it full of animation and extra emotion?
You’ll also want to avoid definitive statements, including “you never/always say that” or “this is all/always your fault.” While it may feel good to say at the moment, it will only cause more harm than good.
Be a Good Listener
Being an active listener is key in relationship communication. Understanding what your partner is saying and taking it all in before responding is important. For many people, when they’re listening, they’re already planning out what they want to say. When you listen to understand instead of responding, it allows you to focus on the message your partner is giving you. Ways to listen to understand include having a positive attitude, making eye contact, and avoiding distractions.
Try to focus on specific behaviors or moments that you want to see a change in or need to address. When doing this, you should try to use “I” statements to address how you’re feeling instead of what your partner did.
Be ready to offer a remedy instead of just saying your partner needs to change. Also, be willing to admit to any fault or blame you have in the issue.
The tips above can help strengthen and improve your relationship with your partner whether you feel like your communication with your partner is strong or needs some improvement. Reach out to learn more about couples therapy and how it can help you and your partner.
