(Image courtesy of Love is Respect)As we live in close quarters with family, friends and roommates, it is more important than ever to communicate and maintain healthy relationships. If you are living alone, it is critical to make sure that you are continuing your relationships and maintaining open communication. Our relationships with others are unique and special, but there are a few key factors to maintaining a healthy relationship, whether romantic, familial or friendship.
Fundamental components of a healthy relationships include open, honest and safe communication for all parties. The following tips can help your relationship flourish.
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Speak up: When something is bothering you, refrain from keeping it inside and instead talk openly about what you are feeling and why it made you feel that way.
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Respect each other: Everyone has their own feelings and thoughts that are valid. Even if we do not fully understand the other person’s point of view, it is important to provide mutual respect and consideration. Keep an open mind to their thoughts and ideas and allow them to speak freely.
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Compromise: It is natural to not always agree on the same things and if you disagree, communicate about these differences and come to a compromise that satisfies both parties.
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Be Supportive: Offering support can look differently for everyone. Someone might offer support in the form of physical touch like hugs or just sitting there with you. Others nod and give other non-verbal cues, while someone else might give verbal affirmative support. Regardless which one you choose, it feels good to be heard and supported. Offering reassurance and encouragement is about building each other up and not putting each other down.
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Respect Each Other’s Privacy: Everyone has a right to their own privacy. Whether that be time alone or not sharing everything. Each party has the right to share what they want to with the other. Just because you have a relationship with someone does not give you the right to know everything and have full access to them and their lives.
Another helpful way to allow your relationships to blossom is to respect each other’s boundaries. Creating boundaries allows each person to feel safe and secure and decide for themselves what is okay and what is not okay. Boundaries are not meant to make you feel trapped or instill distrust but rather the opposite. It is an expression of what you are comfortable with and what you would like or not like to happen in the relationship.
You can use these tips in your romantic relationships, friendships, professional relationships and other relationships. These guidelines to a healthy relationship allow you to feel respected and provide open and honest communication. Take some time to reflect on some of your relationships and see if these tips can help improve your relationships. Learn more at
loveisrespect.org and take the
Interactive Relationship Spectrum test.
Use the Relationship Spectrum to understand more about healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationships. Be sure to tune into today’s Wellness Wednesday episode on Healthy Relationships. Register on DeHUB to get the link.
Take Care DePaul!