Healthy Relationships - Spouse, Children, and Parents
The quality of our family life and how we relate to other family members has a major impact on our mental and emotional well-being. Whether we are interacting with children, spouses, parents, or extended relations, following a few simple guidelines may help make those relationships richer and more inviting, and help us handle the difficult issues that can affect family cohesion:
Maximizing Relationships at Home
- Manage your expectations of others and your expectations of yourself.
- Avoid getting stuck in or forced into an uncomfortable family role.
- Understand and accept the dynamics of change within the family.
- Let go of anger, arguments, and assumptions that block your view of others.
- Maintain mutual respect and offer acceptance and forgiveness.
- Spend more time in dialogue than in communication.
- Share and encourage decision making from all family members.
- Discuss both family and individual values regularly.
- Take the fear out of sharing emotions and feelings openly.
- Utilize words of encouragement more than words of constructive criticism.
Maximizing Relationships In General
- Manage your reactions to others rather than trying to manage them.
- Try new ways of approaching others - vary your style or alter your mindset.
- Work on strengthening your relationships - build bridges not walls.
- Manage your expectations of others and your expectations of yourself.
- Let go of anger, arguments, and assumptions that block your view of others.
- Demand respect and offer respect to others.
- When disagreeing or arguing - focus on the issues not the person.
- Listen carefully to others and ask questions to gain understanding from them.
- Talk out your concerns and listen to others' ideas, views, and suggestions.
- Utilize a support system to help you relax, play, and develop life strategies
Back to the Top
For further information, support, and help on Healthy Relationships (Parents and Children, Spouses and Partners, Seniors and Elder Care), you may try the following:
Top Tips for Dealing With Healthy Relationships (Parents and Children,
Spouses and Partners, Seniors and Elder Care):
- Manage your expectations of others and your expectations of yourself.
- Avoid getting stuck in or forced into an uncomfortable family role.
- Understand and accept the dynamics of change within the family.
- Let go of anger, arguments, and assumptions that block your view of others.
- Maintain mutual respect and offer acceptance and forgiveness.
- Spend more time in dialogue than in communication.
- Share and encourage decision making from all family members.
- Discuss both family and individual values regularly.
- Take the fear out of sharing emotions and feelings openly.
- Utilize words of encouragement more than words of constructive criticism.
Reference Links:
General Articles
Parents and Children
Spouses and Partners
Seniors and Elder Care
Articles on Specific Topics
Parents and Children
Spouses and Partners
Seniors and Elder Care
General Links
Source: Top Ten Tips taken from Department of Psychiatry, Penn Behavioral Health, University of Pennsylvania Health System
