Any counselor will tell you that one of the most common problems observed when people come for help is poor communication skills in their relationships. This isn’t their fault…communication is a skill many of us never formally learned.

In our counseling practice, it’s not only the people who see us that are sometimes concerned with their own self-esteem, but they are sometimes concerned about the people they care about. Low self-esteem can affect any relationship and it isn’t always on the person seeking counseling.

While we don’t provide couples counseling, we do help our clients with relationship conflicts to help them understand and develop skills in this area. Every relationship has conflicts. In some relationships, conflict is a serious problem; in others, differences seem to be resolved without creating a major incident.

Even though we solely provide individual counseling, relationship conflicts often come up because every relationship has a conflict at some point or another.In some relationships, conflict is a serious problem; in others, differences seem to be resolved without creating a major incident.Think about the kinds of conflicts that happen in your daily life. These are typical:

Ineffective communication skills are something we see quite often in counseling.

Not only does ineffective communication harm relationships, it can erode self-esteem. Such communication patterns may actually be destructive, but, sadly, many people fall into the trap of using them. If you and your relationship partners follow these rules and steer clear of the traps of destructive communication, you will almost certainly feel better about not only each other and your relationship but yourself as well.

It’s important to have goals because they are good for your physical and mental health. You can have goals for all areas of your life. Here are a few ideas: (Keep reading)