4 Ways to Improve Communication in Your Relationship

April 20, 2023

Communication in relationships is vital to having happy, healthy connections. And we’re not just talking about small talk. We’re talking about the big stuff. The things that can be challenging to open up about. Healthy communication is about digging deeper and fulfilling your partner’s needs. Keep reading to discover four ways to improve communication in your relationship.

Tip #1: Get Out of Your Head

Trusting that your partner cares about you and is committed to making your relationship work is essential. Intrusive thoughts, like worrying your partner will leave you for someone better or thinking that you’re not good enough for them, pollute your relationship with fear and prevent you from being present in conversations and your partner’s emotions.

Tip #2: Incorporate Play and Humour

Sometimes the best way to diffuse conflict is by using play and humour. But tread lightly with this one. While it’s never a good idea to poke fun at serious issues, it can be a way to stop emotions from running high, taking ourselves too seriously, and breaking the ice with a laugh.

Incorporating play and humour involves paying attention to what your partner tells you and never using a condescending, resentful, or spiteful attitude.

Tip #3: Practice Open Communication

Learning how to better communicate with your spouse can go a long way in your relationship. When your spouse speaks, pay attention and listen to understand rather than to respond. Validate their thoughts and feelings by acknowledging and repeating some of what you just heard. And finally, ask questions.

Tip #4: Learn to Forgive

Forgiveness involves consciously letting go of hurt feelings, anger, and resentment. While it’s not always easy to forgive, understand that holding on to the past can prevent you from happiness, and that’s not easy either.

Need More Help? Deepen Your Connection by Attending A Couples Retreat

Relationships are a two-way street, and connection is an essential part of life. Humans crave it. When we don’t feel connected to our loved ones, it can isolate us and leave us feeling misunderstood and alone. These negative emotions often lead to feeling unheard, arguments with loved ones, or worse, giving up on trying to communicate.

If you and your partner are suffering from a lack of communication in your relationship and need something more, consider attending a couples therapy retreat in Alberta with The Love of Attraction.

Get in touch

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Register for our Newsletter and receive a Free Love Chat Package

This Package Includes

The 5 Steps to a Better Relationship
Ongoing Monthly Relationship Tips
If you want more love in your life, our relationship Love Chat Package is an easy cost-free first step.

Click to Register

Mail

A man and a woman are sitting on a couch, looking away from each other

Healing After a Betrayal

By Kathleen Maiman • July 29, 2025

When someone cheats in a relationship, it causes a trauma. There are three phases of working through the betrayal. Let's explore them together.

A woman is sitting on a bed while a man is laying in bed.

Why Partners Cheat

By Kathleen Maiman • June 30, 2025

As a relationship therapist, I am seeing more couples in my office with betrayals of deceit, infidelity and emotional affairs. My curiosity and compassion arises when working with these couples, helping them to move beyond the deceit and the betrayal. In the discovery process, we want to get to an understanding of how they got to this place of hurt and deceit. Here is one of a few blog posts on Betrayal and Infidelity. This one refers to “Why Partners Cheat”.

A man and a woman are smiling and holding hands in the woods.

Ten Myths to Debunk and Some Truths about Happy Couples

By Kathleen Maiman • June 6, 2025

There are many myths floating around about marriage and relationships that can be detrimental and harmful to relationships. They can create unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings leaving couples down the wrong path, or worse, convince them that marriage is a hopeless cause. Good relationships can end early or fail because of these common myths. Let’s debunk them one by one.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

By Kathleen Maiman • May 30, 2025

Are you having difficult conversations that turn into more conflict and withdrawal? It could be that you are both lacking emotional intelligence.

A woman is sitting at a table holding a cup of coffee and making a stop sign.

Are You Having Trouble Setting Boundaries? Learn About Requests versus Boundaries versus Ultimatums

By Kathleen Maiman • March 17, 2025

Like many of us, I grew up in a family where there weren’t a lot of boundaries or assertiveness in requests. Rigid controlling behaviours were there instead of healthy boundaries. Here are some tips that I have learned about relationships and setting these boundaries. People have better relationships when there are healthy boundaries. And making requests, gives the other party the opportunity to meet us in our needs. Read on to better understand the difference between a request, a boundary, and an ultimatum.

Is it Love or Infatuation?

By Kathleen Maiman • February 13, 2025

In the spectrum of romantic relationships, there are four levels. The first stage is a crush . In this stage, you feel warm inside while hanging out with a man or a woman who pays attention to you, looks sweetly at you, smiles at you or who is kind to you. You find that you like each other. This is a crush and it passes away with time. It doesn`t stay strong and there is no significant bond there. Adapted from Sri Krishnaji – Co-founder of Oneness and World Centre for Enlightenment. Author of Four Sacred Secrets: For Love and Prosperity

A man and a woman are standing next to each other with a wall between them.

If You Want to Stop Arguing All The Time, Avoid These Mistakes.

By Kathleen Maiman • January 27, 2025

A couple trudged into my therapy office, slumped down in their chairs and glared at one another. The tensions were high and the emotions were charged. This couple in their 40s had yet another fight on the way to their appointment. This fight was a continuation of something that started last night, but the truth was they had variations of the same argument for the last five years. “I’ve asked you to be kinder, but you speak to me with such contempt and attack me,” he complained. “But you’re doing things that upset me,” she counter-claimed. “What am I supposed to do?” They were at impasse and falling into this unhealthy dynamic over and over by making three common mistakes made by couples. What are these mistakes? Could knowing them transform your relationship?

A woman is kissing a man on the cheek while holding a christmas present.

Are you ready for intimacy this holiday season? How to Stress-Proof Your Relationship!

By Kathleen Maiman • December 13, 2024

With the holiday season upon us, aliveness and energy is in the air. The season can also be fraught with frenzy and heightened emotions. It is not uncommon for couples to be overwhelmed or disconnected during the holidays, especially if one or both of the partners gets triggered by certain events. The added stress can create relationship strife and difficulties.

A man is carrying a woman on his back in a park.

Five Winning Strategies for a Healthier, Happier Partnership

By Kathleen Maiman • October 29, 2024

In one of last articles, I outlined Five Losing Strategies which are destructive and damaging to your relationships, especially in our close loving partnerships. Here are Five Winning Strategies that Terry Real, creator of Relational Life Institute describes.

Are you a blamer? Here’s how to stop the Blame Game

By Kathleen Maiman • September 18, 2024

Blaming is a natural human tendency. When something bad happens, the first thing we want to know is, “whose fault is it?” Dr. Brené Brown considers why we blame others, how it sabotages our relationships, and why we desperately need to move beyond this toxic behavior. Watch her short on blaming below.