MENTAL HEALTH NEWS: Essential Effective Communication Skills

Nov. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Conflict is something that can't be avoided no matter how hard we try. It's inevitable because people are individuals with different views, feelings, experiences, and ways of perceiving things. And so the object is not to eliminate conflict, but to try to work with conflict so that it has a positive outcome, such as bringing people closer or creating new ideas, new possibilities.

As we're working with the individual, we're seeing a person who has difficulty with communication and conflict. Those difficulties are a major part of the life patterns that often come from a dysfunction family of origin, from significant unresolved conflict in the parental relationships, or from significant unresolved losses. He may be overly passive or overly aggressive, or a combination of those behaviours. His ways of relating are unintentional, unconscious compulsions, and often he doesn't know a healthy alternative to reacting out of emotion or habit.

We're going to be assessing the client in terms of five communication styles: passive, assertive, aggressive, passively aggressive, and destructive.

The report from the College of Mental Health Counseling describes the five communication styles and gives details for understanding how the styles develop, how to adopt healthy skills, how to handle fighting, and how to solve problems in an easy-to-use way.

To download the free detailed report on "Essential Effective Communication Skills," go to https://www.box.com/s/razfwc9gefv1i18qi6od

The author is Daniel Keeran, MSW, with over 30 years experience as a professional therapist helping individuals, couples, and groups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aodrYDAo9xk