Day Five – Assessing Your Communication Strategies: Aim To Cultivate Understanding

Day Five

Think about how your family communicates.  Do you listen to respond, or do you listen to really listen? Think about it. 

Learning how to be a good listener means shutting your mouth.  Enough said. Try it. Interrupters unite! I come from a long line of interrupters.  If you need a “talking stick” (or hockey puck, stuffed animal, etc), get one! Whoever holds the speaking object has the floor.  

Next, think about how you show others that you are listening.  Do you nod, paraphrase their statements, state your understanding, empathize? The ways in which you show family members that their stories, their experiences, their feelings are important will begin to cultivate understanding, create connection and attachment.