Journal 1 – Communication Goals

My communication goals on a personal level are to be able to better communication with my husband, my mother, and my daughter who is 6 years old. With my husband I have a hard time expressing how I feel. I tend to avoid conflict only to result in harboring bad feelings towards him and then it manifests itself in my actions and comments that undermine our relationship. I also need to work on being honest not hurtful. I need to learn to edit my words. When we argue I can get off track and bring up many things that have been bothering me rather than addressing them when they happen. I would like to learn to manage our conflicts in a healthy way.

With my mother, I believe that I have a fearful attachment of her. I have always feared her, her ridicule of me, and only now as an adult I have realized how toxic our relationship is to my well-being. I don’t say this lightly as she was very abusive and controlling growing up. Her abusive nature ultimately created my apprehensive adult relationship with her. I have a difficult time telling my mother how I feel and that her perception of the situation isn’t always accurate. My mother I believe has a personality disorder, however, not diagnosed. This adds an additional element to our communication that is difficult to navigate.

With my daughter, Brooke, I would like to learn better communication habits with her. I often get frustrated and short with her. I would like to have more patience