Establishing healthy communication skills is essential to setting boundaries and establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. In the communication skill counseling sessions at South Coast Psychiatric Services, patients can learn various skills in order to cultivate and nurture more meaningful and healthy relationships. This way, individuals know what to do when inevitable relationship conflicts arise.
What Does Communication Counseling Do?
Essentially, communication counseling helps patients establish healthy ways of establishing communication in their everyday relationships. Effective communication is essential to establishing and maintaining quality relationships, whether these relationships be intimate, familiar, or professional. During communication counseling, patients learn the difference between specific types of communication. And, when to utilize various methods of communication in order to effectively communicate in healthy ways while setting appropriate boundaries.
Some Communication Skills Taught in Communication Counseling Sessions
Individuals utilizing communication therapy services at SouthCoast Psychiatric Services can gain from learning a number of effective communication skills. These skills may include:
Active Listening: Being able to listen to others is one of the most important aspects of becoming a good communicator. Without good listening skills, one cannot learn what another is saying and contribute effectively to a conversation. Being able to listen actively allows a person to better learn of the needs of the person they’re communicating with.
Non-Verbal Methods of Communication: Body language plays a big part in the way that we communicate with one another. For example, hand gestures, stance, and eye contact can give us clues as to what others are trying to say. And, how they’re feeling. Furthermore, it’s helpful to learn how one’s own body language is interpreted. This way, you can understand how your body language affects the tone and delivery of a conversation.
Practicing Empathy: Essentially, empathy is the ability to not only understand how someone feels but to share in these feelings. Being able to practice empathy allows your loved ones to know that you care about how they feel. Thus, improving communication efforts.
Calmness: Understanding how to react to certain situations is a major key to developing healthy and effective communication. A great skill to learn is how to react calmly during a conversation. This allows you to attempt to address issues in a way that isn’t rooted out of anger.
Healthy Feedback: Another characteristic of a good communicator is being able to provide healthy feedback. Basically, this allows whoever you’re speaking with to know that you’ve heard and understood what you were conversing about.
Types of Communication to Address During Communication Therapy
There are a number of ways a person can communicate with others. However, it’s important to understand when to utilize different types of communications in certain situations. Some of the different types of communication include:
Aggressive: This type of communication usually involves a lot of “you” proclamations. Communicating in an aggressive manner is usually in attempts to get a person to change their opinion or get something through to them. And, often leads to feelings of disrespect.
Assertive: This method of communication is used when a person wants to provide another with their point of view. And, share their ideas, opinions, or feelings. Assertive communication usually uses a lot of “I” statements. And, doesn’t necessarily include trying to change another person’s ideas, feelings, or opinions, unlike aggressive communication.
Non-Assertive: Communication of this nature intends to please the people one is speaking with. This stems from an underlying worry that others don’t accept oneself. And, an inner fear of conflict. Thus, leading to built up feelings of depression and anxiety.
Getting Communication Therapy at SouthCoast Psychiatric Services
Think your relationship could benefit from learning how to better communicate? Communication counseling at SouthCoast Psychiatric Services is available at our South Florida location. To learn more about the services we offer, visit our website. And, to talk to us about our services, like communication counseling, give us a call at 561-241-6628