The Harvard Study of Adult Development found that “Personal connection creates mental and emotional stimulation, which are automatic mood boosters, while isolation is a mood buster...people with close connections are happier, healthier, live longer.”

Therapist Elaina Gardner, LMSW notes “One of the biggest issues in relationships as a whole is a misunderstanding.”

She details more in her article especially about romantic relationships, but also other kinds: 8 Common Miscommunications Affecting Your Relationship.

Here are some excerpts - follow link for much more.

February means Valentine’s Day, which means heart-shaped candies, flowers, and chocolates.

On a more fundamental level though, it is an opportunity to intentionally prioritize your romantic relationships. No matter the strength of a couple, we are always able to improve upon the foundation.

To help you improve your communication, we will be outlining 8 of the common miscommunications affecting your relationship.

In addition, we will be outlining why these miscommunications can be popping up and simple ways to improve them in your day-to-day.

8 Common Miscommunications Affecting Your Relationship

Mindreading is a cognitive distortion, otherwise known as a ‘thought trap’.

This thought trap involves making assumptions of what someone else is thinking with no legitimate evidence to back up this assumption

Mindreading can be beneficial, at times, to understanding what someone is thinking based on both verbal and nonverbal cues.

For instance, when someone rolls their eyes, we may assume that they are annoyed or agitated.

However, there are many situations where mindreading can be counterproductive.

Imagine you are in a therapy session and you bring up your frustration with your partner for not taking out the trash.

Your therapist recommends you communicate this to your partner and see if you can have a productive conversation about this.

You respond by saying you already know what they are going to say, so it is not worth fighting about.

Does this sound familiar? If so, you are not alone!

We all do this at times, in an attempt to avoid confrontation, yet, it is preventing open communication.

It is only fair to allow others to prove our distorted thoughts wrong.

When you find yourself falling into this thought trap, try challenging the thought. Ask yourself if that is fair to assume and question the circumstances where you have brought the problem up before.

If you find that you have brought it up out of anger, during an argument, or in a passive-aggressive way, consider what way may be more productive.

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