Having Healthy Relationships With Your Adult Children
This week in Coping Through Covid and Beyond we focused on relationships with adult children.
This can be a difficult topic for some people and for others this is a topic that may just need a little tune-up.
Here are some tips we went over:
• Recognize and respect the differences in your adult kids
• Don’t share critical thoughts or insights. Learn to listen instead of sharing opinions
• Think before you talk
• Have faith that your adult child is doing their best even when it doesn’t look so great
Active listening is key in connecting.
1. Practice self-soothing if something arises in a conversation where you feel like fighting.
2. Slow down your breath. This helps you to focus on the speaker and can help calm your racing thoughts.
3. Notice your interpretations. What are you telling yourself about this conflict or difficult thing to hear? what are you trying to protect?
4. Tell yourself your adult child is doing their best to tell you how they feel. Hold hope for your relationship
5. Notice when you want to interrupt and hold yourself back with a deep breath so you can refocus your attention on the speaker.
6. Lower your shoulders and loosen your jaw when you are listening to things that are difficult it will help you stay out of your emotional mind.
Learning to ask more questions and not give your solutions is important in relationships where there is room for different ways of thinking.
If you are having a difficult time in your relationship with your adult child counseling can really help.
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