Marriage Counseling – Time to Listen to your Partner
Marriage counseling requires intensive listening in order to work well. Unfortunately, listening has become a lost art form in this day and age…though every one of else considers ourselves to be a fantastic listener. The truth of the matter is, multi-tasking has done a tremendous disservice to listening and we listen worse than ever!
We all know that feeling of talking on the phone with someone, when you know full well they are engaged in doing something else. You hear a half-hearted “uh-huh, uh-huh”, click, click, as they type away on their keyboard, swearing they heard every second of it!
In couples counseling, it becomes imperative to genuinely listen to your partner, without becoming reactive (which instantly shuts down our listening and encourages us to formulate a response, instead.)
Listening also requires being in the present moment, again, something we’ve lost the ability to do. Some basic meditative practices can help you become more present and in turn, improve your listening skills. Deep breathing, clearing your mind, watching incoming thoughts enter and then leave without the need to grasp them and “figure things out.”
Many of our most complex marital problems stem from a genuine lack of listening. Most people simply want to be genuinely heard. That act alone is enough to begin to allay anxiety, anger and fear. In addition to intensive listening, partners want to be understood, regardless of whether you agree with him or her. They want to know that you have empathy for their emotional condition. These simple tenets are the foundation of just about any truly effective work in marriage or couple counseling…and life.
Related Posts
- Listen to Your Voice of Reason
- Marriage Counseling – When Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds
- Making Time for Couples Counseling
- Learning How to Create Quality Time through Couples Counseling
- Taking the Time for Pre-Marriage Counseling
[...] Marriage Counseling – Time to Listen to your Partner Marriage counseling requires intensive listening in order to work well. Unfortunately, listening has become a lost art form in this day and age…though every. [...]