Communication problems can arise in any situation or social relationship. It isn’t unusual for us to misunderstand or misinterpret others or vice versa. But if you are having problems communicating with people in general to the point that it’s putting a strain on your relationships with family, friends, or coworkers, you might start to wonder if there is something wrong with you (or it has more to do with them).
Effective communication only happens when all parties involved are doing their part. It’s a two-way thing. But if you are noticing similar patterns in the communication issues you have with others, you might want to take a closer look at how you are communicating with people around you, especially with those you have personal relationships with.
Here are common communication problems (especially in relationships) and what you can do about them:
Poor Listening Skills
The world would have fewer conflicts if only people listen more. Everyone is guilty of communicating with someone but not giving full attention. When you are not actively listening to someone we are speaking to, you are not only risking making the person feel invalidated, you are also going to miss out on important nonverbal communication cues and end up not fully understanding what the person meant.
Listening to someone actively allows you not to only understand their message but also empathize with the person’s feelings. When someone is talking to you, maintain eye contact, don’t hesitate to ask clarifying questions, and remain engaged. Sometimes we tend to only listen intently when we’re in a workplace environment (especially to our boss) and not so much when with our partner, family, and friends, thinking we already know what they’re going to say. But this shouldn’t be the case for good listeners, and listening still matters a lot in establishing and nourishing personal relationships.
Wanting to Win All the Time and Unresolved Issues
There are instances when we rather be right than be on good terms with someone. Some couples are guilty of choosing to win an argument over their happiness. This communication problem is more common in couples who’ve been together for a long time. Chances are past issues will be brought up and the vicious cycle of pointing out who’s wrong and who’s right will continue. This is why issues should be addressed right away. Keep your emotions in check whenever you have an argument. Let the other person know what you truly feel. Also, learn to find a common ground.
Avoiding Uncomfortable Communication
Not wanting to engage in uncomfortable conversations can ultimately hurt any relationship. Some people are afraid to express what they truly feel not only because it’s uncomfortable but also because they fear rejection or being misunderstood. This is understandable especially when you have trust issues due to a negative experience in the past.
But you must know that more often than not tension only builds up when it is ignored. If you often feel misunderstood, it might be because you haven’t really been expressing your thoughts and feelings.
Lack of Emotional Intimacy
Emotional intimacy mainly relies on how comfortable and safe you feel about sharing your thoughts with your partner. Not being honest or being silent about your thoughts and feelings will eventually take a toll on the intimacy you have with each other. Staying silent or inability to share your thoughts may be an understandable response to being dismissed, ignored, or a traumatic experience in the past.
The best thing to do is to learn to trust your relationship enough that you can be honest with each other. At the end of the day, the only way you can know what your partner is thinking is when he or she knows exactly what you are feeling. This way there is no second-guessing and misinterpretations. But not all people can easily trust and open up especially when they’ve gone through a traumatic experience.
When something traumatic happens, it may affect a person’s ability to function normally and can impact their relationship with close friends and partners. A study shows that trauma survivors often report reduced satisfaction in relationships as well as impaired expression of emotion, communication, intimacy, adjustment, and sexual activity.
Trauma is one of the reasons people avoid or lessen emotional and physical intimacy. This is why for this kind of communication issue to be resolved, one needs to address the effects of trauma first. There might be emotional wounds that need to be healed.
Being reserved about your feelings and thoughts might be your body’s way of protecting yourself from getting hurt. Our past experiences and memories can shape how we choose to respond in the present and the future. This is supposed to be a good thing because it is meant to protect us from getting hurt again, but the problem is there are times when your mind and body can no longer determine when it’s okay and it’s already safe to share your thoughts and feelings. This is where Intuitive Energy Healing with a focus on emotional release comes in.
Intuitive Energy Healing releases negative energy to help alter our subconscious thought patterns so that we’re less prone to react the same way if another similar situation happens. Instead of shutting down people or alienating them, you will be more open in communicating your thoughts and feelings. Intuitive Energy Healing is gentle yet highly effective for trauma healing too as it releases the feelings associated with the trauma from the body’s memory, thereby allowing the body to feel healed and whole again.
Through Intuitive Energy Healing, negative emotions that are stuck in your body that negatively impact your mental, physical and emotional state are identified, located, and released. This way, you are freed from those negative emotions and they will longer dictate your actions. You can begin to trust again and be less afraid of being judged. Intuitive Energy Healing sessions are offered in-person and remotely.
When you learn to trust others and be less concerned with how people react, you can communicate more honestly and more effectively. With better communication, your relationships with others will improve significantly.
