Need some help with conflict resolution in your marriage?
Limit your arguments. If the situation between you and your partner is tense, small annoyances can seem bigger than before. When you argue, allowing bad feelings to fester only makes it worse. Don’t turn your quarrels into something more or attach your reactions to another issue. Agree that you will together explore the problems in your relationship. And spend time learning about conflict resolution, direct communication and active listening skills. There’s a lot of information available through relationship workshops, on the Internet and in the self help section of the bookstore.
Begin a process of serious talking. Can’t do it alone? If you really want to work out your differences, you might consider consulting with a marital therapist or joining a couples’ support group. When you each understand more about the other’s needs and capabilities, you’ll be clearer about the compromises you have to make. Then it will be up to both of you to decide whether or not you’re willing to do the hard work. That may include efforts to change your current expectations, redefine what marriage means to you and create new goals for the relationship.
In the meantime, if the conflicts and arguments are getting you down, click on the title of this post to read an article from HerMentorCenter.com on Six Ways to Beat the Blues.
