When conflict arises, try to avoid using blameful language towards your partner as this invites negativity into the situation. Try to communicate assertively and take responsibility for your own feelings and actions, and try to focus solely on the issue at hand.

Pick your battles is often given as advice for avoiding unnecessary conflict, but if you apply this advice to serious issues, it can be detrimental to your relationship.

Pride, bias, and defensive mechanisms prevent us from dealing with conflict in a healthy, productive manner. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are strategies you and your partner can use to effectively deal with conflict in your relationship.

While pride, bias, and defensiveness are mechanisms that prevent us from dealing with conflict in a healthy, productive manner, there are strategies you and your partner can use to effectively deal with conflict in your relationship.

Communicating assertively and taking responsibility for your own feelings and actions, and focusing solely on the issue at hand is key.

Let’s be honest—you and your partner are going to have disagreements. Sometimes they’ll be small (What movie should we watch?), but sometimes they’ll be more serious (When are we going to have children?).

'Pick your battles' is often given as advice for avoiding unnecessary conflict, but if you apply this advice to serious issues, it can be detrimental to your relationship.

Communication is the foundation of your relationship; you and your partner rely on healthy communication skills to productively work through both celebrations and struggles in your relationship.

Healthy communication relies on both partners ability to be assertive and to listen actively considering each other’s needs. To recap, assertiveness is expressing your feelings and asking for what you want in the relationship, while active listening is listening attentively without interrupting and restating what was heard.

Sure, we communicate with our partner regularly, but the quality (which really matters) is not always a concern. Productive, supportive, positive communication is vital to relationship health.

When communicating with your partner, try to avoid blame, criticism, and judgement. Instead, focus on the good!

There are two skills that will help shape a positive environment for communication in your relationship: assertiveness and active listening.

To recap, assertiveness is expressing your feelings and asking for what you want in the relationship, while active listening is listening attentively without interrupting and restating what was heard. The process of active listening lets the speaker know if their message was accurately received. It’s imperative for the listener to acknowledge the content and the feelings of the speaker.

There are two skills that will help shape a positive environment for communication in your relationship: assertiveness and active listening.

The process of active listening lets the speaker know if their message was accurately received. It’s imperative for the listener to acknowledge the content and the feelings of the speaker. Acknowledge content AND the feelings of the speaker. The active listening process lets the sender know whether or not the message they sent was clearly understood by having the listener restate what they heard.