What are relationship skills?

Relationship skills are important abilities that help couples build and keep healthy connection. We all know what these are, but are not all taught or trained to do them well.

These skills include:

• listening
• expressing emotions well
• resolving conflicts
• setting boundaries
• knowing your strengths and weaknesses
• understanding your needs
• knowing what love is and how to show it
• understanding how to serve someone selflessly
• learning what commitment looks like
• learning how to “fight” well
• building knowledge of one another
• expressing affection and fondness
• communicating about finances, parenting, and sex
• understanding how to compromise
• creating solutions together
• and more

How do we do skills training?

We have couples or individuals come to learn some or all of these skills in 1 or multiple sessions, as well as, workshops. Couples tend to express frustration with not being able to communicate or frustration with how much they fight. Sometimes it is more important for couples who really love each other and have a lot of desire to be together, to help them learn skills that can provide positive results in their relationship.

Counseling can also be important and can be combined with skills training. Couples can come in for one session of counseling, then come back the next session for skills training.

What is the difference between counseling and skills training?

Counseling helps couples search for the root of their conflict and create lasting change by building understanding of each other’s emotions and perspectives and helps them to become empathetic of their partner’s concerns. Then helps them learn to connect on an emotional level and heal previous hurts between them.

Skills training only looks to educate and practice critical skills that couple need to keep their relationship and lives together running smoothly. The skills can be helpful when it comes to doing the things they need to do in a counseling session, such as, listening and empathizing with each other.