Building Healthy Family Relationships
Building strong family relationships supports your child to cope with challenges and ...
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The way we communicate differs based on gender, cultural background, age and the situation.
It’s likely you and your child have different communication expectations because of the generation gap.
In general there are three communication styles. Assertive communication is preferable to passive or aggressive communication.
Assertive communication – not blaming others and taking turns to listen
Passive communication – giving the silent treatment and avoiding conflict
Aggressive communication – being forceful, not listening, harsh and blaming
You might feel powerless when you and your child can’t talk effectively about difficult topics. Here are some things you can try to get your communication back on track:
Tell your child you care and will do all you can to work this out
Try sticking to safe topics, while you build up trust again and work out what to do
Practice great communication while talking about the little things - like what interests them
Sometimes it can help to have a calm third person involved to support communication between you and your child
Notice when your child is more open to talking – it could be while you’re playing a game together or doing chores
If you have concerns about your child’s development of communication skills for their age, check in with your doctor
Seek extra support to build up effective communication skills by talking with Parentline and encouraging your child to speak with Kids Helpline
Parentline is here for you.
Sometimes you just need to talk to someone. Sometimes you need guidance.