Communication and Conflict Resolution in Intimate Relationships

Lesson 5 - Communication Strategies Follow up:             Last week we discussed the importance of building our own self-esteem if we want to be effective communicators. We first want to follow up on your positive affirmations. Were you able to repeat 10 things you loved about yourself every day? How did it make you feel? If you haven’t already, write your feelings down in your journal. You can keep repeating positive affirmations to yourself as long as you feel you need it. You can also change up your affirmations! Find ten new things that you love about yourself, to add some variety.             You were also given the assignment to start a self-esteem journal. If you have not yet written about how you feel after following the prompts for a week, take the time to do that now. Have you felt an increase in self-esteem? Do you feel better able to accept yourself? If you have...

Lesson 4 - Self-Esteem Follow Up In the last lesson, we focused on intimacy and how communication plays a huge role in your intimate relationship.   How did you do on your weekly challenge last week?   You were to ask your partner if they needed advice or just someone to listen to you, and then you were to write in a notebook or a journal about how things went and if you felt closer and happier.   Did anything change in your relationship? This Week This week we will talk about self-esteem and how important it is to be successful in your own life, as well as in your relationship.   “Research has well-established the link between good self-esteem and relationship satisfaction. Self-esteem not only affects how we think about ourselves, but also how much love we’re able to receive and how we treat others, especially in intimate relationships” (Lancer, 2016).   Working On Our Own Self-Esteem           “Whether your self-esteem ...

  Lesson 3 - Intimacy   Follow up: Communication Activity Before continuing, we want to see how the communication log activity went that we started in lesson 1! How do you feel about your interactions with your spouse over the 10 days? Were you able to have a meaningful discussion about your results? If not, we invite you to take a few minutes and do this now. Be honest and respectful, as well as willing to accept responsibility for your own words and actions. This conversation is meant to help you improve your ability to communicate, not to point fingers or blame. Now, if you haven't already, take a second to make those goals. Each of you should make at least one personal communication goal, and then you should have at least one goal to work on as a couple. We hope that you will really make these goals a priority, as they will help you and your partner better your ability to communicate. Follow Up: Lesson 2 In the last lesson we learned about conflict resolution ...