Trust and Communication: The Most Significant Elements of Effective Communication in a Relationship

by Restorations Therapy Center on Monday, May 25th, 2020

The two most important elements of a successful relationship include communication and trust. Communication involves effectively transmitting or sharing one’s ideas and feelings. Trust is being able to completely believe or rely on someone. These two things make the foundation for a successful relationship.

Communication

         Communicating with someone allows you to share your thoughts and feelings, revealing who you are and what you need or want. Miscommunication leads to issues, usually involving hurt feelings. The following basics of communication will help you speak more honestly:

• Speaking – being open and clear about how you feel opens the road to communication. Furthermore, if you do not understand what someone else is saying, then let them know. Be honest with your words, being mindful that if your words hurt someone you should apologize.
• Listening – it is important for communication that you pay attention to the other person and acknowledge that you are listening. Listening is different than looking at your phone, or thinking of your response while the other person in speaking.
• Body Language – using body language, such as leaning into the conversation and maintaining eye contact show the other person that you are listening.

Trust

         It takes more time to build trust than it does to break it. So here are some tips for helping to build trust:       

• Reliability – make sure that there is mutual reliability in your relationship, where if one of you needs the other to vent to after a bad day or if either of you is physically stuck somewhere that you would be there for each other.
• Respect Each Other’s Boundaries – ensure that when you are in a relationship you are both able to respect your individual boundaries so that neither party is uncomfortable.
• Maintain Honesty – related to honesty, talk about your feelings instead of keeping them bottled up and make sure to talk through disagreements. Therefore, if there is a mistake made by either party, it should not be kept a secret.

Are You Looking for Help Building Up These Foundations?

         It is imperative to have honest communication and important conversations in person and face-to-face. Talking or texting over the phone allows for distractions to occur and even dismissal of the conversation entirely if either party decides to hang up or not reply to a text. Furthermore, avoid important conversations when you are angry or upset, take time to cool off after a fight, and discuss concerns or problems before they turn into big problems. Also, you must have communication to build trust, which takes time to build. So, take these tips and think about getting help to foster these positive relationship elements. If you are looking for help, call us today at (720)-446-6585.