It’s impossible to not communicate.  Therefore, it is among the most important ingredients in marriage.  You are going to communicate, so why not choose to communicate in ways that bring out the best in others while, at the same time,  being honest and true to yourself?.

So many elements go into clearly conveying a message from one person to another.  For example, if you have ever struggled to put your thoughts into words then you already know that communication can be a real challenge.  Assuming that the other person actually heard what you meant to say with the words you chose to use can be dangerous!  Add a little body language that is not consistent with what you meant to say and a little noise like texting on a phone, a blaring TV or radio, a crying baby, etc. and the simplest efforts at communication can be incredibly complex.

But, we still tend to assume that the other person heard what we meant to say.  Rather than expending the needed effort to make sure that we are speaking clearly and being heard accurately, we go on with our lives without giving our communications another thought.

That can be dangerous when the other person hears something very different from what we intended to say.  Add a little anger and negative assumptions to the mix and communication can be deadly to a marriage.

Marriage and Family Therapists are specially trained to help people work through the miscommunications and learn the skills necessary to help people do better.  Communication is never a perfect endeavor.  Actually, it really is hard work.  Instead of working into another frenzy over what he or she just said, why not get to work on getting on the same page?