If you’ve ever worked in a toxic environment, you know how taxing it can be. Conversely, when colleagues have positive working relationships, it can:

• Increase productivity and efficiency
• Allow you to trust one another
• Make you feel more empowered to suggest ideas
• Reduce stress levels
• Make your work experience much more enjoyable

Whether you’ve just started at a new job or you’ve been employed for a while but are still finding your footing at the company, here are some steps you can take to build healthy relationships with coworkers:

• Follow through on your promises. Your coworkers need to feel like they can rely on you to pull your weight of the work, and to ensure that happens, you have to fulfill your commitments. Also be sure to meet deadlines, and if you anticipate not being able to do so, give your colleagues a heads up.
• Listen to your coworkers. Oftentimes, employees focus only on voicing their own opinions, perhaps in an attempt to prove themselves to their boss. But it’s equally important to actively listen to and acknowledge what your coworkers have to say.
• Get to know your coworkers on a personal level. You and your colleagues don’t need to be best friends, but it may make it easier for you both to empathize if you know a bit about each other. Ask them how their weekend was and pay attention when they discuss their family and hobbies.
• Avoid getting involved in office gossip. While you should be friendly with your coworkers, you shouldn’t participate in spreading rumors. Not only can engaging in gossip keep you from getting tasks completed, but it may also cause your coworkers to question whether you talk about them, too.
• Show appreciation. Acknowledging your coworkers’ efforts can go a long way toward making them feel valued. This doesn’t just apply to work-related efforts, either—if they bring in baked goods or arrange a fun team outing, be sure to tell them how much you enjoyed it.

Start Building Positive Working Relationships

Are you seeking to nurture healthy relationships with coworkers? We can help. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

The importance of having positive friendships in your life cannot be overstated. Healthy friendships can help you feel happier and more self-confident, reduce your stress levels, and prevent you from feeling lonely or isolated. When times are good, friends can help you celebrate. And when times are bad, they can help pick you up and provide a kind shoulder to lean on.

Unfortunately, for many adults, it can be tough to make new friends and even more difficult to ensure that those friendships enhance their lives. With that in mind, here are some tips for how to build healthy relationships with friends:

• Be an active listener. Communication is key to a positive friendship, but many of us aren’t great at listening, which can leave our friends feeling ignored and unvalued. When talking with friends, make an effort to face them, focus on what they’re saying, and ask follow-up questions. You should also avoid interrupting them and zoning out as you plan what to say next.
• Offer advice without judgment. At some point throughout the course of your relationship, your friend will likely come to you for help with a problem. While you should be honest about how you feel, you should also try to empathize with them and respect that that might have a different opinion.
• Make time for each other. In today’s busy world, it can often be difficult to schedule time with friends, but getting together is crucial. If you live near each other, pencil in a weekly dinner or even a monthly coffee date. Or, if you live far apart, plan a time to talk on the phone or, better yet, videochat.

Start Building Healthy Relationships With Friends

If you struggle to maintain positive friendships, you’ve come to the right place. We have extensive experience helping patients nurture healthy relationships with friends, and we’d love to do the same for you. Contact us today to schedule a therapy session.

“I do.” Two simple enough words. And when you say them on your wedding day, you really mean them. But “I do” can quickly turn into, “I thought I could” when you don’t know exactly who or what you are committing to.

Let’s face it, relationships are tricky and it’s important that you and your partner are 100% open and honest with one another before tying the knot. And that’s exactly why premarital counseling is so beneficial.

Premarital counseling helps couples identify and address potential areas of conflict before those issues have a chance to turn into serious problems. Couples also learn effective communication skills and conflict resolution strategies.

Here are some specific benefits of premarital counseling:

Learn More About Each Other

We always think we know our partner until they do or say something that surprises (and irks) us. Premarital counseling is an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper, more intimate level. 

Confront Challenges Head-On

Couples don’t always discuss potential areas of friction at the beginning. And then real life comes at them and arguments happen. 

For instance, what do you do if you find out each one of you has a different opinion about how finances should be handled? If one of you wants to home school but the other wants your kid to go to public schools?

Premarital counseling offers couples a space to identify potential challenges head-on.

Make Plans for the Future

The brightest futures are the ones with the best-laid plans. Couples counseling can help you create a clear vision of what you want your future to be. A counselor can help you both discuss your individual goals and dreams and how you can combine these to create a future where both of you reach your potential as individuals, as a couple, and eventually as a family unit.

If you and your partner would be interested in exploring premarital counseling, please reach out to me. I’d be more than happy to discuss how I may be able to help.

SOURCES

• https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/modes/premarital-counseling
• https://allintherapyclinic.com/what-is-premarital-counseling/
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-connected-life/201706/do-you-really-need-premarital-counseling